


Indulging in the Unknown

by adal44t_kb_o



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Consensual Sex, Dubious Consent, Exhibitionism, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, First Time, Gore, Heterosexual Sex, Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Sex, Multi, NSFW, Original Female Character/Fallen, Other, Polyamorous Relationship(s), Rough Sex, Size Kink, Threesome - F/M/M, Vaginal Sex, Violence, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-23
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2018-03-19 08:03:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 61,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3602514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adal44t_kb_o/pseuds/adal44t_kb_o
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lykrosis, a stealth vandal of the House of Devils, had always been too curious for his own good. When he encounters a strange creature in the Forgotten Shore, he takes an interest that will not abate. Their continuous interactions take an unexpectedly intimate turn, but this may prove to be more dangerous than they realize. Unbeknownst to them both, the creature's very existence will uncover shameful secrets that the Fallen would prefer left buried.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Black Isolation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, ADAL here, and this is my first fic in the Destiny fandom, yay! There will be a significant OC and Fallen-centered plot starting from before the events of vanilla Destiny up through RoI and possibly further. There will be explicit content, but I like to think I write tasteful sex scenes as opposed to raunchy smut. Either way, if sex scenes aren't your thing then turn back now! If you are curious yet cautious, then please pay attention to the chapter warnings.
> 
> If you have spent five minutes in the Destiny world, then you know the story and lore are pretty convoluted, so expect headcanons and me taking a lot of creative license. First up, the Fallen language. *See author's note at the end of the chapter.* This chapter brings up a whole lot of questions and hints of surprises. I will explain everything, I'm usually really good about that, but if you have any questions along the way feel free to ask.
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-Interspecies sex, consensual sex, rough sex, heterosexual sex, size kink, voyeurism
> 
> PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER THE LEGAL AGE!  
> Disclaimer-I do not own any of the characters or locations represented in Destiny as created and owned by Bungie, and I'm not profiting from this story.
> 
> Enough rambling! Let me know what you think. Reviews not only fuel chapter production, but help me learn and improve.

Frozen water fell as heavy, wet puffs obscuring the path Lykrosis was currently following in this unknown area of the Forgotten Shore. His stealth was still up as he ran swiftly through the rock outcroppings, but he hadn't seen any other creatures since the battle that had separated him from his crew. Three nuur'khu had ambushed them scattering the unit, and effectively isolating him, as they took cover behind ancient rubble littering the valley. His stealth had destabilized during the first wave due to an armored round piercing his lower left arm, and by the time it was back up the fight was over.

Most of his crew had escaped as they had been on the far side of the battle and moved swiftly when the captain trilled a retreat. He had been left behind with only the nh rv'aan lying forgotten about his feet. Bright, blue lifeblood was spattered across the area, and his own had mixed with theirs as it dripped profusely onto the dry soil below from his burning wound.

The sounds of distant fighting toward his destination and his wounded state had caused him to reconsider returning to the home caves immediately. Instead, he had decided to find an area to rinse and bandage his wound before taking a longer but well hidden route to the remaining crew.

Lykrosis had been running tirelessly heedless of the growing ache in his arm while searching for a secluded pool to tend himself. Simultaneously, he was leading the easily detected trail of lifeblood away from the home caves just in case nuur'khu decided to track him. There were many recounts of Fallen wounded being captured, interrogated, and tortured by nuur'khu in the hopes of finding their house leadership. He would not be one of them.

Finally, he caught scent of fresh water on the air and it was coming from an area only a little ways ahead and to the right where the land sloped downward between two massive sets of darkened rock. Moving silently forward, he scanned the area and listened intently, but could not detect any activity in the immediate vicinity.

The path between the cliffs was wide but partially blocked on the right side by the remains of a crashed ship of unknown origin. The land had begun to take it back, the local flora surrounding and breaking it apart as they sprouted upwards through the hull in their search for energy. Further down, he could see a set of shallow pools enclosed on all sides by the ravaged cliffs.

Lykrosis crept along the base of the downed ship toward the water when he suddenly froze, the barest of sounds catching his attention. It disappeared, but he waited. _There._ Again there was a slight scraping. When it came a third time, he realized it was coming from above and barely had time to hide among the vegetation when a figure came into view. Lithe and agile, it leapt off the farthest cliff edge and landed silently in front of the nearest pool facing away from him. _Nuur'khu_ , he thought immediately with disdain, and sure enough a nuur'az followed it down.

He thought it best to leave as even a lone nuur'khu could still be deadly, but its unique form attracted his attention. It was adorned strangely with no visible armor or protective helm like most, only flexible, black fabric covering its seemingly vital zones. _Foolish,_ he thought at the impractical covering. Even more foolish was the fact that it was stripping its only protection off until it stood before him in nothing but its flesh.

He had never seen the flesh of a nuur'khu before, but it seemed similar to his own in that it looked soft, yet stretched taught over the underlying musculature. However, unlike his flat gray, it was pure white in color and refracted energy like the frozen water that fell from the skies. He also did not see any sort of exoskeleton or armor plating that would indicate a natural defense.

It slipped into the pool as if to clean itself and kept its back turned to him, which presented him with a dilemma: attack or leave. He had the element of surprise and this nuur'khu seemed to lack even a hint of intelligence, not that the lowly lifeforms had much anyways, as it had left itself so vulnerable. Although, with only blades at his disposal, his pistol having been lost during the previous fight, he would have to get in close to make the kill.

 _Cowardice is weakness_. His decision was already made, but before Lykrosis could strike he froze for the second time.

Heavy footsteps sounded behind him and he crouched lower into the vegetation surrounding him. His arms flexed readily in anticipation, pain forgotten entirely, and his body thrummed with energy as he prepared himself for a fight. As the footsteps came closer he could see that it was a sdee'al, and he knew that he had lost his chance.

Or… perhaps not.

It moved toward the nuur'khu with its massive blade held at the ready across its front, and its intention was clear in Lykrosis' mind. The two would fight and whichever was left standing afterwards, he would strike down as it would surely be momentarily winded from its exertions. To best a sdee’al or nuur’khu by himself would only increase his prowess and perhaps be enough to alleviate his previous shame.

With that plan in mind he stayed hidden, and with his keen eyes trained on the scene, waited to see how it would unfold.

Sdee'al were formidable opponents, just as dangerous as any nuur'khu, and this should prove to be a display worthy of attention. Hunters knew their prey, warriors knew their enemies, and Lykrosis was both of these. Scrutinizing this one on one battle between both his enemies was an interesting learning opportunity. Those who learned and excelled in combat were useful to the Fallen, and he was determined to prove his worth.

This sdee'al was slightly different than others he had seen being deep red in color with numerous black patches, and it was noticeably larger. The traditional full-body armor was battle scarred, and there was additional plating covering the normally exposed mid-section. This one also seemed to have adornments on its armor in the form of shoulder and forearm spikes.

Lying in wait for foolish prey to wander by was instinctual to him, but never before had Lykrosis felt so ready to pounce and make the kill. Electrifying energy roiled throughout his body causing his lifeblood to pump faster through his veins. His upper arms flexed again and his claws tightened around his blades while his lower claws tested the soil beneath his feet. It was wet and heavy from the frozen water but not slick and would provide excellent traction for his short sprint. Seasoned hunters always surveyed their surroundings, and in addition to the footing, the wind was also in his favor. Now was the perfect moment to strike, and yet he stayed frustratingly still.

Why was the sdee'al moving slowly forward instead of charging ahead with its massive blade raised while the nuur'khu was still turned away? It also wasn't being quiet in its advance, and yet the nuur'khu hadn't risen from the water nor turned on its enemy. The behavior of both his enemies was strange and it caused his energy to stutter momentarily in confusion at the scene.

His attention turned from the two to the nuur'az, which unlike its partner, had immediately faced the approaching creature and backed away slowly in obvious fear. The small machine's whole body vacillated as it flicked its gaze between the sdee'al and nuur'khu nervously. He heard it speak, "Hey, you know he's here right?" and although he was unaware of what the words meant figured it was addressing the nuur'khu.

There was no response but the nuur’khu rose from the pool and turned so that it was facing them both.

Lykrosis couldn't help but be distracted by his first glimpse of a nuur'khu without a protective helm. Long, black tendrils sprouted from its head and fell haphazardly around its face and shoulders. It had eyes that were similar in shape and color to his own, but there were only two and they were much larger, dominating its angular face. The nuur'khu mouth did not have mandibles nor visible teeth, which seemed disadvantageous, and he vaguely wondered how it consumed food.

The body was soft and curvy, more similar to his own than the sharp angles of the sdee'al, and its claws were so short to be almost useless. It had two large, unidentifiable mounds on its chest and no visible waste elimination organ.

Its body was lax not tense as if it did not feel threatened by the other creature. Lykrosis looked to its face again and found that its mouth had pulled up at both corners in an expression he was unfamiliar with.

The response from the sdee'al was a low growl as it dropped its blade and grabbed for the nuur'khu in one swift motion. The nuur'khu saw it coming though and jumped out of the way causing the sdee'al to roar. It charged this time, sweeping its claws outward, and missed again when its prey dodged to the left.

The nuur'khu did not attack but continued to jump, sprint, and roll around the hollow with the sdee'al in constant pursuit.

Eventually the sdee’al backed the nuur'khu into a corner and Lykrosis lent forward in anticipation of the final strike.

Right before the sdee'al lashed out, the nuur'khu mouth pulled up even farther at the corners and then it dove between the other's braced legs. It hit the water with a loud splash, and then was up on the side of the pool closest to him glancing over its shoulder at the sdee'al.

Then the nuur'khu did something he did not expect; it lowered itself onto claws and knees offering its backside to the enemy in what was clearly submission.

 _Foolish,_ he thought again at the display that would surely bring death upon it.

The sdee'al let out a full body roar, its three eyes taking on a bright yellow glow.

Lykrosis thought it would strike, but instead a panel at the apex of its thighs slid back revealing its waste organ. It appeared to be soft but rapidly lengthened and became more rigid as the sdee’al approached its prey until it was a sizeable shaft.

His attention was stolen from the scene by the nuur'az when it spoke again.

"Yeah, I'm just going to be over there."

The little machine moved toward him and Lykrosis immediately crouched lower into the underbrush. He did not want it to detect him before the sdee'al had dispatched the nuur'khu.

It passed near him using beams of nuur to scan the ancient ship and spoke quietly although, to whom, he did not know. "Great, now I have to find something to occupy me while I pretend that she isn't having sex with the knight… again. Hmm, let me scan this ship for the thou—" but it abruptly cut off and backed up with its eye trained on him.

The reaction was telling; it had discovered him. However, it didn't do anything other than hover just out of his reach before it moved away to scan something else.

Lykrosis waited to see what form of trickery it was up to, but it paid him no attention. Aware that it could still be a ruse, he left his audio receptors trained on the nuur'az, but focused his eyes back on the pair.

The sdee'al was on top of the nuur'khu now practically crushing it into the ground while its claws grasped at the soft body. Light scratches and trails of lifeblood appeared wherever the claws swept over the flesh, and the nuur'khu made small noises in response. The larger creature bit at its prey's neck and the nuur'khu claw slipped behind its head; he thought it was to ward it off, but it only pulled the sdee'al closer.

Lykrosis did not understand what was happening between the two. It was the strangest form of fighting he had ever seen and neither seemed to be trying to win. The sdee'al could easily tear its prey apart in this position, but the claws never bit deeply into the flesh. It growled ferociously but handled the nuur'khu gently almost as you would while polishing a savored blade.

A strong gust of wind blew various scents up from the pair, some familiar such as the intoxicating smell of lifeblood, of wounded prey. There were others he couldn't identity, however, so he rose up on his haunches and took in the scent more fully. Whatever it was, it was also pleasant, and the combination caused a small stirring within his abdomen that he recognized as desire. Although, desire for what, he did not know.

Eventually, the sdee'al let up. It moved into a kneeling position, and then pulled the nuur'khu harshly back against it so their hips were flush.

The nuur'khu cried out loudly in what he assumed was pain, but it didn't try to pull away.

One of the sdee'al large claws dug into its backside and the other wrapped around its middle creating small punctures in the soft flesh. The larger creature pushed the nuur'khu forward, and then jerked it backward, which caused its prey to cry out again.

They started to rock against one another, their bodies moving back and forth in opposing motions, and they slammed together roughly. The nuur'khu gasped at sharp thrusts and moaned almost continually, but it wasn't in pain. With his keen eyes picking up on minute details, he could see that it pushed its hips backwards to meet the sdee'al and its pulse was racing from the exertions. The nuur'khu was… enjoying this; they both were in fact. Each noise that escaped the nuur'khu resulted in an enthusiastic thrust from the sdee'al and an accompanying grunt.

The pair kept at it for many moments, their pace never faltering, always back and forth. Then, something changed. The nuur'khu blunt claws scratched at the ground as its body went rigid, and then it screamed. Long and loud, it screamed and writhed while the sdee'al continued to ram into it from behind.

Another intoxicating, yet unidentifiable, aroma permeated Lykrosis' senses, but this one caused a sharp clenching in his groin in addition to a surge of desire.

The screaming turned to whimpering and the writhing to shuddering as the nuur'khu finished whatever it had done, but still the sdee'al moved. The smaller of the two collapsed against the ground and without its help, seemed to give the sdee'al more trouble moving in this position. It instead picked the nuur'khu up holding its back flush against the sdee'al front, and Lykrosis finally saw what was really happening. The waste organ, still long and firm, was inside of a hole in the nuur'khu that it had either made or was already there.

He did not understand the purpose but was instantly revolted by the knowledge, and the desire he felt disappeared. What was the sdee'al going to do, eliminate inside of the other?

In this new position, the sdee'al now moved the mostly limp nuur'khu up and down upon itself causing the shaft to move in and out over and over again. Its one claw stayed wrapped around the smaller creature's waist while the other moved to grasp at the mounds.

The nuur'khu jolted at that, and then began to moan and whimper again.

There was another period where they kept moving at the same moderate pace, a seemingly unnecessary repetition of the whole process. That was until he noticed that the sdee'al behavior was the one to change this time. Its claws clenched down on the nuur'khu body, tearing the soft flesh as it increased its pace and ferocity. It slammed the nuur'khu down upon itself to the hilt, growling heavily, and causing the mounds to bounce from the force.

The nuur'khu only seemed to enjoy the rough treatment more, its own claws scrabbling at those of the sdee'al.

Ragged screams escaped its throat again and the writhing that accompanied them.

This time, something similar happened to the sdee'al as well. It moved its smaller partner up and down several more times before it crushed the nuur'khu down as far as it could go, and then it let out a deafening roar. Its body gave small shudders and the waste organ pulsed inside of the nuur'khu. They both rutted against one another, screams mixed with roars, claws scratching at each other's flesh, and that organ throbbing over and over.

Sure enough, rivulets of thick, black liquid ran down their thighs and dripped into the water below.

 _Disgusting_ , he thought as his mandibles pulled back in a silent snarl.

The spasms and noises fell away leaving both panting heavily from the apparently taxing amount of work the display had required, but still the sdee'al pumped the nuur'khu full of liquid.

The sdee'al recovered more quickly than the nuur'khu and moved with its smaller partner still impaled to sit with its back against the left cliff wall. The liquid was now gushing out in thick globs yet the organ throbbed again, and he wondered how many moments it took to empty, if that was what it was doing. Lykrosis was also surprised that the fluid had a slightly sweet smell to it and not the putrid odor he was expecting.

The nuur'khu stirred with a slight moan, trying to lift itself off the shaft.

Both of the sdee'al claws moved to its partner's hips and slammed it back down roughly with a growl.

Another shout from the nuur'khu was the result as its head fell backwards, eyes closed and arms spasming. Deep, slow breaths racked its body before it twisted to look at the sdee'al with that same expression it had had before the display. Apparently content to stay put, not that it had a choice, it lie backward against the massive creature and relaxed.

The sdee'al waited to make sure the nuur'khu wasn't going to try to get off it again, and then relaxed into its position as well. It seemed like many moments passed before the pulsating shaft slowed, spurting the last of its fluid, and then lie quiet. They continued to rest while the organ reverted to its softer state and slipped out of the nuur'khu.

Lykrosis heard a snick that he figured was the panel closing, which prompted the nuur'khu to rise. The sdee'al followed suit, and then they parted as if nothing had happened. The larger creature picked up its blade before departing back up the long path from whence it came, and the smaller returned to the pools to remove the black fluid and lifeblood.

While the nuur'khu was still cleaning itself, the nuur'az returned and began speaking, "Did you have a good time? No, don't answer that, I really don't want to know. Anyways, we have another visitor." There was a pause before it started again, "Of course you already know. What are you going to do about it?" Another pause and it lasted many more moments that the previous one. "Great. No answer. You know you are the most frustrating creature I have ever met. Sometimes I think I should have just woke another guardian."

The little machine remained silent after that and watched while the nuur'khu replaced its stripped garments.

The first fabric slipped on over its head, obscuring most of the mounds from view, but pushing them up at the same time so the visible tops were pronounced. There was cord along the front that followed a crisscross pattern downward and was used to tighten it around the nuur'khu frame. The second covering was a tiny piece of cloth that slipped on through legs holes leaving everything bear but the folds between its legs. The last piece covered its entire backside with long pieces of fabric that fell to the ground but only cut across the thighs in front.

The nuur'khu finished its preparations, gave the little machine that same expression, and then started up the path. It walked leisurely, flicking its eyes around as if taking in its surroundings. When it reached the ship, it trailed its claw tips through the vegetation, brushing individual stems and leaves like it was testing them.

The claw passed close to him, never touching, but it still caused his lifeblood to pump rapidly, an almost electrifying feeling filling him.

Lykrosis watched with interest as it strolled up the path only just realizing he had missed his opportunity to make the kill. He cursed inwardly but for some reason, he had hesitated. His eyes followed the nuur'khu to the apex of the slope, its machine partner trailing closely behind, and then he was alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fallen Language  
> The information in this section of each chapter has been completely made up by me. Bungie has given us Fallen glyphs, but no actual words (outside of a bit of dialogue in game that you don’t get text for). I have used a system I devised a long time ago for creating new languages and applied it to the guttural speech as well as clicking, trilling, and growling we here from Fallen during gameplay. Should Bungie actually decide to give us words at some point, which I highly doubt, I will adjust this.
> 
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nh Rv’aan-literally means no soul. This is a term for the dead but it is specific in that it refers to those that are soulless.  
> Nuur’khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> Nuur’az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> Sdee’al-Hive Knight  
> Nuur-guardian light


	2. Tangible Instinct

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos and comments!
> 
> My personal style as a fanfic writer is to stick closely to the canon and almost universally accepted fanon. I understand that fanfiction is by definition AU, but I don’t like to be OOC or directly conflicting with canon events. My primary sources of info have been what we actually see in the game, the grimoire cards, and Destinypedia. As we get more information and more expansions I will adjust things I have written to conform with the canon wherever possible unless it would completely ruin the story.
> 
> This chapter introduces my female OC and I am going to bet she is nothing like you expected. I wanted to do something completely different than what I have seen coming out of the Destiny fandom so far. Also, the hierarchy and social system I explain in this chapter are completely made up by me, I’ve just extrapolated based on the game.
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-Kind of explicit sex, sexual content, language, gore, violence

Pleasure. Burning, electrifying pleasure. _He is so long and thick and hard. Full. I feel so full. Almost. Almost. Almost…_

Screams. Loud, piercing screams… and roars. Deafening roars. Unbridled movement, fast and hard. All of it fuel, fuel for the wave of pleasure. Back arching, eyes closing, fingers clenching. Spasms everywhere, inside and out, his and mine. _Good. It all feels so good._ Heat, liquid heat. More and more and more. So full. _Yes, yes! More, always more!_

…

Slammed down again, hard and sharp. Almost bruising. _YES! Nnng..._

His eyes blaze. Low growling, a clear warning. _I forget. Always, he must fill me._ Every spurt, every drop. He means to breed. So much liquid pumped inside. Ineffective. No quickening.

Lazy, safe. Hard, armored body below. Sated, relaxed. Smiling. _Why smiling? It happens… so often, but… I never know why. Some… emotion, anything. There should be something._

_There is nothing._

He is finished. There was almost something, a cusp on the verge. Just tangible, but not quite. _It must shatter._ _There should be something. Why is there nothing?_ Knight. Feral and instinctual. Brutal. Good, he always feels so good. _He claims me. I think it’s right. There should be something._

_Always… nothing._

He is leaving. Massive frame, attractive. Feels like loss. More, there will be more. _I will clean._

Cool liquid seeping into gouges. Burning, unpleasant burning. Warm liquid dripping from between legs. Pleasant. _Physically, there is always something._

_Little machine. No… Ghost, it is named. Am I named? Yes… a long time ago, I think?_

_…_

_Ghost._ Warm feeling inside, good feeling. Physical… but more. _This is right, I know. This is something._

“Did you have a good time? No, don’t answer that, I really don’t want to know.”

Smirk. _It’s right, but why?_

“Anyways, we have another visitor.”

 _Yes._ She knew, she could feel it.

“Of course you already know. What are you going to do about it?”

…

“Great. No answer. You know you are the most frustrating creature I have ever met. Sometimes I think I should have just woke another guardian.”

 _Guardian._ That word again. It felt… wrong. _It is something, but something wrong. Inconsequential… for now._

Soft, silky cloth. Tight and flowing. Flattering, attractive. _Ghost is happy I am unharmed, happy I am clothed again._ Smiling again. _This is right._

 _Now, what about the other? Caution, high probability it is hostile. Just like Knight was._ Moving forward, closer. Light is fading, air is changing, cooler. Gusts moving the vegetation. It is hidden there. _Feels different. Not the same as Knight. Smaller, colder. Similar aggression._ Almost upon it. Fingers trailing lightly through the underbrush. Rough, silky, waxy. _Alive, everything is so alive. It is so alive. No… he. Male. I feel him, so alive._ Warmth, it spreads throughout. He is interested, curious.

 _I could touch._ Fingers closer and closer. Moving forward, _so close._ His body flushes with heat. _My body… heats._ Fingers pull back. _There is… something._

Up the slope, across the barren land. Silence. Thinking, always thinking.

She thought of it.

“Yes?” Ghost replies in question.

She sent her intentions. She would have him.

“What do you mean you’re going to ha… shit.”

* * *

The entrance to the home caves loomed before him both well-guarded and expertly concealed. Long ago, one of their captains had stripped a stealth generator from a dead vandal and used it to distort energy photons and project a false wall across the front of the entrance. It was undetectable by any that didn’t already know its location, and as long as those returning were careful on their approach, the nuur’khu would never find it. It had been a necessary measure given that this area of the forgotten shore frequently had enemies passing through. In addition, his crew was so large that the only cave system that could contain their impressive numbers would have drawn immediate attention.

It was unusual that a crew would occupy a single area for an extended period of time, most preferring to keep moving or stay aboard their skiffs. None knew why they lived this way, only the captains. After a patrol long ago, the captains had found a place to hide their skiffs on the ground and decreed that they would remain within the caves indefinitely. It had been a strange decision, but one did not question the captain.

Lykrosis crouched behind a set of large rocks and surveyed the immediate area for anything that might indicate the presence of nuur’khu. His eyes scanned the expanse of flat ground to both sides of him and he audibly scented the air. _Nothing._ He slowed his own pulse and froze so that he might detect even the barest of noises. He remained that way for a long while before scanning the area one more time. Again, there was nothing. Stealth still up, he ran for the cave entrance in an all-out sprint across the dry ground, and then dove through the illusion. The entrance was a narrow tunnel that had to be crawled through before it opened up into a large corridor.

As soon as he entered the corridor, he rose and moved passed the two dregs on guard duty, completely apathetic to their existence. Fallen were social creatures but they also had a strict hierarchy that did not permit fraternizing across the different classes. That meant that vandals may socialize with other vandals despite rank and authority, but would never spend personal time with a dreg and vice-versa. Some vandals liked to bring their authority and power to bear over the dregs, usually through humiliation and extensive punishment, but he cared not. The dregs were foot soldiers and he would use them as needed in combat, but otherwise he seldom acknowledged their presence.

Even as he thought that, his attention was drawn to a group of dregs inside the first large cavern that served as one of the common areas of the cave system. They were crowded in a corner near a flare of burning energy that provided heat and were currently growling at each other as they ripped apart a beast native to this planet. Hisses and shrieks of incoherent rage flew back and forth with the flashing of razor sharp teeth as limbs were torn from the still struggling animal. The sound of joints rolling and popping, bones splintering, and muscles tearing were hardly enough to drown out the animal’s pitiful screams as it was rended. Arcs of alien red flew through the air and splattered the floor and walls filling the room with the sweetly, metallic scent of lifeblood.

The visceral scene left him tempted at the most instinctual level but he was no dreg to be controlled so easily by such carnal desires. Long ago he would have, but long ago his life as a dreg was overcome. For a dreg, it was useful to be as vicious, aggressive, and bloodied in combat as they could be for few would survive long. Those who continued to return from the battlefield alive and ready for more showed a certain level of cunning and intelligence, which eventually lead them to a new life.

Docking caps removed, they were finally permitted to regrow their limbs with their honor restored and given a larger supply of ether by the servitor, which would prompt their transformation to a vandal. More ether allowed them to sustain larger, more virile bodies, increasing their strength and making them harder to kill. It also activated additional neural synapses, which drastically increased their intelligence and advanced processing capabilities. They were no longer driven by blind aggression and shame.

As the dregs separated, scurrying away with pieces of bone and flesh to consume, Lykrosis left the scene without another glance. He passed by three more large rooms where the dregs slept and then crawled upwards through a long tunnel. Where it ended marked the top level, which housed the smaller and more numerous rooms reserved for the higher classes. He barely had time to emerge before his captain, Tyriks, was right in front of him and he dove to the side out of pure reflex in an effort not to hinder him. A low growl filled the air and he kept his head down in a submissive posture waiting for the slash that was sure to come. When nothing happened, he flicked his eyes upward and found Tyriks staring at him with an inscrutable look.

Even though he had been with this same crew since he had been spawned, never had he remembered being so close to the captain. Close enough in fact that he could see distinguishing features, which was rare among Fallen. He didn’t know the explanation behind the phenomenon, but Lykrosis had noticed that only Elder Fallen, only those that had actually lived on their home world, had small differences in their appearance. He did not refer to their armor, adornments, and weaponry, but their actual physical forms. All others were physically identical.

Tyriks was marginally taller than other captains and thinner, less muscled but just barely. With longer arms and sharper, lither claws, he appeared to be perfectly suited to the meticulous engineering he specialized in. His keen eyes were larger than average, and closer to white in color than the standard blue. His armor was traditional, polished and damage free at all times, and sported the vibrant red of the House of Devils. In addition, he wore a heavy, black sash and loin cloth of unknown origin.

Lykrosis realized that his staring was obvious when another warning growl assaulted his senses. He returned his eyes to the floor and waited for Tyriks to address him, punish him, or leave. He heard the swish of his captain’s cape as he turned toward the tunnel he had just ascended, which seemed to signal his departure. Before he could even raise his head again the captain had disappeared.  

All were wary of the captain and for good reason. They enacted swift, ruthless punishments for the smallest annoyances and often killed dregs for less if they were displeased. They socialized infrequently, and only with other captains and the reaver vandals; those who had displayed great battle prowess and were favored to become captains themselves.

There was much talk of another reaver being promoted soon as their crew was now too large to be headed by only one captain. Rarely, two dregs, often spawned together, would rise through the ranks simultaneously to become captains. In cases such as these, the two would often stay together and lead a larger crew, as was the case of his own. The two were barons, nobles of their house, and had coordinated well together, managing to elevate their crew to one of the highest ranked and well-respected that the House of Devils could boast.

However, they had suffered a fairly recent detriment with the apparent death of one of their captains, Friksor. He had been on an extraction mission when his skiff had been boarded unbeknownst by a team of stealthy nuur’khu. The captain had managed to send them a transmission detailing the surprise attack as it was occurring before all communication was cut and the skiff was lost. Right now it seemed the servitor and Tyriks were still waiting for evidence of his demise, but soon there would be no choice but for them to promote one of the reavers. Already the infighting between the dregs had begun and was resulting in worse injuries than the normal squabbles.

For a captain, a noble, and a baron, Tyriks was surprisingly less brutal in his punishments and tolerated more before he became enraged. He was highly intellectual being the one responsible for the ingenious illusion obscuring the home caves, and spent a lot of his time upgrading their weapon systems and defensive technology. That didn’t mean he was any less ferocious in battle, personally having taken down a multitude of nuur’khu. He was reserved at the beginning of a fight, preferring to remain behind and evaluate the movements of both sides to formulate a strategy. When the time came, however, his blades were swung with deadly force and his aim both accurate and precise.

Opposite in almost every way had been Friksor. His temper was legendary as was his long history of charging into battle heedless of any injury he might sustain. Physically, he had been considerably broader of shoulder and more muscular than his counterpart. He wore heavier armor to compliment his headstrong fighting style, and whereas Tyriks kept himself pristine at all times, Friksor had proudly worn every slice, dent, and scorch mark his armor had ever sustained.

The only thing they had in common was the fact that they both wore the same loincloth, and their eyes had been identical except for a scar that had cut across Friksor’s face through his inner left eye and slashed the top of his respirator. It had been delivered by the blade of a stealthy nuur’khu that no longer breathed, destroyed by the captain’s own claws.

None of the crew knew why they had originally teamed up as dregs, and with their command strategies being so different it was easy to assume that they would clash. While they did have their spats, the reality was that Tyriks’ patience and strategic intelligence was balanced by Friksor’s impulsiveness and cold aggression.

“Not dead?” came a voice to his left. Standing in front of the room he occupied with other stealth vandals was a reaver, Kreesis, and one that he socialized with frequently despite their difference in rank. Lykrosis and Kreesis had been spawned together as dregs and risen to vandals at the same time. The reaver had surpassed him though when a nuur’khu ambush had taken him out first while Kreesis had been left to fight them off with only a few dregs and shanks at his disposal. The servitor had seen fit to promote him while Lykrosis was left as he was. It had been a source of great shame for him and most of the other vandals enraged him with their constant reminders and jabs at his expense.

“No,” he replied tersely.

“Surprising. You staggered from impact. I figured you dead when you did not return. I smell the wound.” As the direct leader of all the stealth vandals, Kreesis was responsible for taking their reports and keeping track of those who still lived so the address was not unusual. What was left unsaid, however, was his curiosity at what had happened and why Lykrosis had taken so long to return. The scene he had witnessed between the nuur’khu and sdee’al sprang to the forefront of his mind. Should he report what he saw? Instinctively he knew the answer, _no._ Lykrosis wasn’t sure why but he really didn’t want to tell any other what had happened.

He held up his bandaged arm as evidence and stated, “It is nothing. The ambush was swift and I on the other side of battle when the captain trilled. Following immediately risked leading them here.”

The reaver’s lower arm flicked in acceptance of his explanation and probably approval of his actions. “Two shanks needing repairs await you in your room. Then rest and patrol following that. Understood?” Lykrosis gave him a look showing that he understood, and then moved into his room thankful that the other vandals were out on patrol as he did not wish to be disturbed. He preferred silence while he worked.

Vandals were required to pick up additional skills in order to help maintain the crew’s efficacy and in the beginning he had shown an aptitude for engineering so in that area he had been trained. The two shanks were floating too close to the ground denoting damage to their engine systems and one had a suspicious upward tilt on the left, which probably meant that the right stabilizer was offline.

Before he got to work, Lykrosis stripped his weapons, gauntlets, and leg plating as they would hinder dexterous movements whilst trying to perform such tedious repairs. He placed them on the ground near the pile of furs and cloth he had collected and arranged to sleep on. There they were still easily accessible should he need to grab them in haste.

He knelt in the middle of the furs, powered down both shanks, and began his repairs. He already knew what needed to be done, mostly a combination of removing bad circuitry and reconnecting loosened wires, so his thoughts wandered while his claws worked. It didn’t surprise him that they strayed immediately over to the strange scene and his lack of reporting to the reaver.

He should have said something. There was no reason to hold back and should it turn out to be important, he could be punished severely for withholding information. It didn’t make sense even to him. Why would he risk such a thing when he didn’t even know what he had seen anyways?

Still, Lykrosis knew he would say nothing. Something about the scene bothered him and he was going to try to find out what it was. The pair’s behavior seemed to indicate that they had fought or grappled or whatever they had done more than once, but there was no way to know if they would return to the same location or not. It didn’t matter.

When next he had the chance, he was going to return to the pool and see what he could discover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this and are a little intrigued by our mysterious femme; obviously there is something not quite right about her at this point. I came up with this cool idea and when all is revealed I believe it will actually fit into the Destiny universe really well. Just know that chapters from her POV will be on the shorter side and there won’t be many of them until we are further along.
> 
> Expect more Fallen world-building, I’m having too much fun with it! The arm flick was meant to simulate a human nodding, but I highly doubt they would have human mannerisms to start with and much less likely that they would adopt them being that they see humans as beneath them.
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur’khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> Sdee’al-Hive Knight


	3. Unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all my lovely readers and for all the comments and kudos. I am just absolutely delighted with the response to this fic. You guys are awesome.
> 
> With regards to my last note, I have studied all of the relevant content from HoW and believe that it won’t affect this story much. I have a way of dealing with everything I have come across at this point and some of the info will actually fit in really well with what I wanted to write anyways.

Four patrols later Lykrosis had finally been able to slip away from the home caves without detection and return to the pools. There he had waited patiently for any indication that the nuur’khu or sdee’al would return. There had been nothing. He had perused the entire area and there was nothing to suggest that either of them had been back since. The ground had been completely undisturbed, the air free of unnatural scents, and the water clear, untainted by bodily fluids. Overall, it had been a waste, but he was persistent.

Six patrols came and went, and then he had had another chance, but had once again found nothing. He had initially wondered if this area’s frequent sky water was washing away the evidence, but that hadn’t been the case. Several patrols had passed without an occurrence of sky water, and when he visited the hollow, there was still nothing.

Every chance Lykrosis got, he visited the area, but every time there was nothing to find. So many patrols passed that he eventually lost count and still he had seen neither of them again. He hadn’t expected to stumble upon them as he had the first time as the likely hood of repeating such a spontaneous event was miniscule, but he had anticipated finding some signs that they had passed through.

His latest survey had him crouching near the water’s edge scanning the surrounding area for tracks. The water was completely still enabling him to see the shallow bottom, which was fully settled, not a grain out of place. _Nothing has been here._

It didn’t make sense. Nuur’khu and sdee’al were enemies, fighting viciously against one another and always going for the kill. For these two to put on such a display with neither trying to kill the other, they must have come to some sort of agreement. They had to have been together before and their behavior clearly suggested that they enjoyed this grappling, so why hadn’t they done it again?

Lykrosis growled in frustration at being unable to acquire more information, but more so at himself. _Why do I pursue this so fervently?_ _There is little to be gained by it._ He stood up in one swift movement deciding that he would not be returning to this place again. _Foolishness._

He turned around to retreat back up the slope and about halfway up the path there it stood, the nuur’khu. Instinct took over in an instant. His blades flashed upwards and he trilled loudly while his chest puffed out in an aggressive display. He activated his stealth generator disappearing from sight with an audible crackle of energy.

Even though he was more than ready to strike down his prey, Lykrosis found himself hesitating because the nuur’khu hadn’t moved. It stared in his direction with large blue eyes and no discernable expression to its face, but stayed completely still. He couldn’t even detect its breathing.

He waited, his blades still up, but nothing happened. Lykrosis kept his eyes trained on it for any sign of intent, but also scrutinized its form. It was definitely the same nuur’khu, but it looked different. Most of the long tendrils were pulled back from its face, only a few falling in the front near its eyes. It had changed fabrics as well. It was covered from the crest of its neck down to mid-thigh in a tight, one-piece suit, which was the same bright crimson as the House of Devils’ adorned.

Although the color did please him, he thought the garment completely impractical; it didn’t even cover the entire nuur’khu frame. How had this creature survived without the use of protective armor and wearing nothing more than decoration without function?

His eyes returned to its face and found the same expression there that it had used with the sdee’al, its mouth pulled upwards at the corners. There was something about it that was different though, something besides the mouth had changed, and Lykrosis didn’t know what it was, but… it infuriated him. White hot anger burned through him, forcing his legs forward in an attack before his mind had even reacted.

But… before his first step could even hit the dry ground, it disappeared. His guard went up switching from an offensive stance to a defensive one as he tried to locate the other creature. Its disappearance had not been accompanied by nuur, and no matter how hard he tried, there was no stealth refraction to be seen. Lykrosis searched the entire area, scenting frequently and flicking through different frequencies on his helm for any detectable audio emissions. _Nothing._

The nuur’khu was simply gone.

* * *

When he arrived back at the home caves after his unexpected encounter, there was a group of dregs waiting for him. Lykrosis knew he wasn’t scheduled for a patrol until much later, so he was unsure of why they were there. However, as soon as he saw the three large metal plates and accompanying slide housings, sensors, cables, and energy adapter, he figured it out. He was getting a door, which was surprising and not at the same time.

Not long after they had settled within the caves, and the whole area properly fortified and made fully defensible, Tyriks had decreed they would also make them more habitable. They had started with simple things such as gathering cloth to sleep on and setting up energy tubes for illumination. They had marked the area with banners and the proper glyphs to denote their house and crew. The available space had been divided up into three sections: resting, socializing, and a command center mostly used for communications. The captain set up a hydraulic pump to tap into the underground water supply and funnel it into two small communal areas, one for bathing and cleaning wounds and the other for drinking.

Next they began to expand the entire system, creating new rooms and enlarging existing spaces wherever possible to accommodate their growing numbers. The further they expanded the more space each Fallen had until finally the captains and all of the reavers had individual rooms of their own, and none of the upper ranks had to share more than three to a room. The dregs still all slept together with the shanks in the three large rooms on the lower level, but even that might change soon as the expansion was still ongoing.

A few more small changes had followed and most recently had come doors, which were following the progression of highest ranked to lowest. He had expected a door eventually, but hadn’t realized they were already so far along in the renovations.

Lykrosis was pulled from his thoughts by the chittering of several of the dregs. Apparently his prolonged staring and lack of speech was making them nervous. “Get to work,” he hissed at the group and clicked his mandibles in irritation. They moved about quickly hollowing out the door frame to position the metal plates that would slide apart to create the door. He started to wire the energy adapter to their existing power generator as well as to the hydraulics, which would facilitate the door’s movement.

It was another tedious task that allowed his mind to wander while his claws worked. He was curious, as was everyone else intelligent enough to be curious, as to why they were building a lair for that **was** what they were doing. The captain hadn’t stated it explicitly, but there was no other conclusion for the continual transformation of the caves. There was much speculation and talk, some of the reavers even going so far as to say they knew the reason, but Lykrosis hadn’t heard any explanation that sounded viable.

Its construction was peculiar because of the redundancy; the House of Devils already had a lair. It was a well-hidden, fully-functioning command center that housed their prime servitor and the highest ranking crew, which served as its guard. No Fallen was allowed to go there unless summoned and most had only ever seen it once, when they were spawned.

“F-Fin… finished, Lykrosis,” stammered one of the dregs.

When he looked at it, it immediately cowered as if waiting to be struck and he clicked his annoyance again. “Up!” he growled and waited until it was standing, although rather feebly, with the others before addressing them all in an authoritative voice that held no threat, “Mount the doors.” They followed his orders explicitly from then on and he pretended to ignore their pitiful stances and cringing. He tested the sliding mechanism several times and when he was satisfied that they were installed properly, dismissed the dregs.

Lykrosis slipped inside his room and let the doors slide closed behind him, which gave him a small sense of satisfaction. He went to his sleeping pile, stripped his armor quickly, and extinguished his energy tubes. The other vandals were still out and he had no wish to converse with them anyways. He curled up in his furs, pleased by the warmth they provided, and slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R and R!
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur’khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> Sdee’al-Hive Knight  
> Nuur-light


	4. No Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First scene is from the OC’s POV. Good luck with that. No, haha, I’m kidding. Just try to really read into what is going on and pay attention to all of the verb tenses and writing styles. I do everything for a reason.

Reclining. Soft, warm bed. Comfortable. Ship is safe, secure. No fear. Ghost is calm here, calls ship… home. _Home…_ warm feeling inside. Home is here, with Ghost. This ship… perhaps this planet. Ghost is hovering close to terminals, uploading information. Ghost is happy while it works, always happy.

Smiling. _Why?!_ The answer… is gone. Frustration. No answers. Always questions. Fist slams against the table. Glass shatters, but there is no pain.

“Are you okay?!” Ghost shouts.

_At me?_

“What is wrong?” Ghost is worried. _No, I want… I want Ghost happy._

Soothing. She was fine.

“Then you want to tell me what the side table did to piss you off?” Ghost is amused. _Good, but why amused?_ Side table glass is broken. Cracks spread outward from a single impact. Flashes of blue. Blood. Trail leads to… _me._ Blood seeps from a gash. Warm and thick. Large drops fleck the coverlet. _Amused, Ghost thinks it was purposeful._

It wasn’t purposeful. Or maybe it was. She couldn’t remember. Her eyes showed the confusion.

Ghost’s mood falls; it knows. It is worried again.

She was hiding much from Ghost. She didn’t want it to worry.

Smile. This one is fake, but knowledge: Ghost always worries less. Already it flits back to the console.

More. She would lessen its worry more. She thought of music.

“What would you like to listen to?” Ghost asks enthusiastically.

Anything. Everything. She didn’t care.

“Alright. How about something instrumental while I work and you do… whatever it is you do inside that brain of yours.” Plan works. Ghost is happy again.

Melody pours through the air. Low tones, beautiful. Pulls at something inside. _This is right. This feels good._

Sedate, but thinking. Always thinking. _Good signs: lone scouting, returns to pool, curiosity tempers aggression. He is interested._

_I am interested. Attracted to his form, his face, his smell. Smaller than Knight, softer than Knight, colder than Knight. But… more alive._

_Complimentary to me. Perhaps, more than Knight, more than them all. Many years, many tries. Always failure, but this is right. The veil, the pressure. It pushes at me. This… pushes back. Close, so close with Knight, but no shatter._

_Pushing, always pushing. Consuming, consuming… me. Soon there must be something. Why? Why must there must be something soon?_

Pressure, unbearable pressure. Burning inside. Mind is hurting. Body is hurting. Everything is hurting. Suffocating. Insides are crushing.

Pressure stutters. Shallow breath. Something flashes inside.

Pressure lessens. Air rushes into lungs. Painful breathing. Vision, vision of darkness. Momentary, pressure resurges.

Pressure abates. Pain… disappears. Breathing slows, evens out.

Knowledge comes. It is so close. Hides it all. Ghost doesn’t know. Ghost will never know. It would worry too much.

She thought of Ghost.

“Yes?”

She needed to go down.

“Alright. We’re already in a close orbit. Give me a few minutes to finish this and then I will take us to the surface.” Acknowledgment. Thankful.

_Intelligent. Less instinctual than Knight. Interim period. Caution, his and mine. Knight will claim me until… this must work. There must be something. There will be no more._

She saw it. The pressure crushing her. The veil, dark and cold. Blackness weighing down. Unadulterated nothingness.

_Soon there must be something. Or I will be nothing._

* * *

Three patrols later and his plan to disregard the display and the strange nuur’khu became impossible. The l’nat thing was following him. His first patrol after his run-in with the creature he had caught a fleeting glimpse of it as it ran across a cliff ledge off in the distance. Lykrosis hadn’t even been sure if it was the same one, but when he saw it again just as briefly the following patrol, he knew.

As he stood along the perimeter of a small clearing, agitation caused by the dregs incessant chatter pouring off of him in waves, the nuur’khu stared at him from its hiding place at the base of a rock outcropping far to his left. Its face was completely hidden behind a growth of local flora, but he caught flashes of bright, blue eyes and shining, white flesh when air brushed by. At first, Lykrosis worried his patrol mates would discover it, but he soon realized that the hiding spots were well chosen. If he hadn’t already been searching for it, then even his keen eyes would have missed it.

For as long as he stood there scanning the area for potential threats, it also remained in the same location and simply watched. Many times he considered drawing the others’ attention to it and finally hunting this creature down, but he never did. That same feeling he got the first time when he failed to tell Kreesis of his discovery continued to afflict him. He wanted to keep this knowledge to himself.

Lykrosis growled quietly at his own thoughts. _This course of action is unwise._ As unintelligent as they may be, nuur’khu were still dangerous and his curiosity had made him this one’s target. But what did it really want? It had done nothing to threaten him, only watched from a distance and made its presence known. _Or perhaps it does not understand that I have discovered it._ If it was trying to follow him but hide at the same time, then… it was probably trying to discover the location of the home caves.

This ominous revelation pushed him out of his indecision. Nothing was more important than protecting the home caves for if the nuur’khu found them, then they could destroy the entire crew in one well-timed attack.

 _I cannot allow its presence any longer._ Lykrosis discreetly moved closer to its hiding place under the guise of patrol and the dregs unknowingly followed him as he knew they would. By the time he finished his advance, he was in a good position to cut off any attempts at escape by his enemy. From the nuur’khu location, the land slopped downward at a curve creating a cliff ledge to their new position. Lykrosis could stay at the bottom of the cliff and draw the creature’s attention while the dregs came at it from above. _If they can quiet to advance on it._

As if they weren’t already loud enough, they had even started up an argument along the way. Completely oblivious to the danger, he clicked a harsh warning at them to be silent. Their body language immediately huddled inward at the reprimand, but then changed again at the realization and promise of a hunt. Their weapons drew upwards, legs bending slightly to facilitate quick, agile movement, and the chittering finally cut out.

“Nuur’khu,” he said quietly, only the click of his fangs against his inner teeth making an audible noise. “Five d’ntr,” and his lower left arm bent inward to denote direction. “Hiding,” he spat out last, so that they might be able to locate the cowardly creature. He motioned them around the curve so that they could get eyes on it. When hunting pheromones permeated the air, he knew they had succeeded and clicked lowly for them to return.

“I will distract, draw fire. You will ascend. End it quickly from above.” He didn’t wait for an acknowledgement before turning to retreat back to the curve; they would follow orders, and if they failed, then he would take it out himself.

He could only take a few steps before he spun to the side out of pure evasive reflex and then crouched low. Loud and clear, a long-range nuur’khu rifle sounded once in the same instant, and then there was the misty rasp of incorporeality. The grating screech of the second dreg cut off midway as it too had its rv’aan ripped from its body in a wisp of white tendrils.

The two headless corpses lie at the edge of the slope where the dregs had meant to climb. Lykrosis’ had moved just far enough that he was hidden behind the rock wall, and that was the only reason he was still alive. He tilted his head just enough to see around the barrier and quickly mapped out the enemy’s location. There were three nuur’khu in addition to the one that remained hidden. Two of them were far off in the distance and high up to utilize the elevated vantage point. The last was sprinting at top speed across the ground toward his location and it was already halfway there.

Lykrosis pulled his head back just in time to hear another projectile shoot past his hiding place. The nuur’khu had led him perfectly into an ambush, and he had foolishly followed.

Now, there was no escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, this story takes place before the events of the game and will continue on through the HoW and possibly TTK.
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur’khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> L’nat-Fallen curse word closest to ‘damn’  
> D’ntr-measure of length. It is equivalent to about 10 meters.  
> Rv’aan-Fallen soul


	5. The Color of Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to all of my wonderful readers and for all the kudos; you guys are the best. And to anyone who commented thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m always ecstatic to read what you guys have to say and I hope everyone continues to enjoy the story.
> 
> Even though the ghost is referred to as a ‘he’ in the game, I have made it genderless and will use the pronoun ‘it’ until later in the fic.

It didn’t understand her. For so long they had been together, and yet still, it understood nothing. Her motivation, her reasoning, her intention, all of it was a complete mystery, and that didn’t seem likely to change any time soon despite its best efforts. It had collected every facet of information, recorded every moment of their time together, and documented every interaction she had ever had, all so that in the end it could still be just as confused as when they had first met. No, the ghost did not understand anything about this strange female it had bonded with.

Two earth years ago, it had been wandering alone through the harsh, red sands of mars, searching for something. If it was honest with itself, it hadn’t been searching, not in truth; it had been hiding. It had been hiding from its responsibility under the guise of searching. Still, in the end it had found something, or rather someone.

Two earth years ago, it had been hiding in a shallow hole in a cement wall as Vex Goblins marched by when it had found what it hadn’t even known it was searching for. Tucked between sparse shrubbery and an adjacent wall had been a female form watching the goblins pass by with keen interest. At first, it had thought the female human, but no human had ever had pure white, almost translucent skin before. Perhaps, it had thought, she was awoken. The ghost had never seen that particular shade on an awoken either, but theirs was definitely closer.

It had seemed likely until her face turned toward it. It had ducked back into the wall in an instant, hoping not to have been discovered, but not before catching a glimpse of her eyes. They were large, blue orbs, the very same shade as its own and there was no pupil or white to be found. Unlike its own dim, almost flickering ones, hers had shown bright and luminescent, and combined with her skin made it seem almost like an internal light was bleeding from her. There was no doubt, she wasn’t awoken either.

The ghost had stayed hidden within the wall as it simultaneously searched its data banks for any known species, extinct or otherwise, that might fit the description. There had been nothing. It hadn’t been quite sure what to do; it hadn’t often come across creatures it knew nothing about. The ghost had contemplated its options counting the seconds as they slowly ticked by, and then decided to take a quick peek out at the situation. It had not been prepared for what it would find.

A little more than a foot away, the female had stood motionless staring into the eye-level hole and directly at it. Fear had threatened to overwhelm it almost instantly, but the fear was squashed just as quickly under the weight of the female’s light. In the light, it had been borne and in the light it felt warmth and safety.

This ghost… was captivated.

It had floated leisurely up and down just a fraction of an inch as at it stared at the unmoving form with rapt attention and received the same in return. Minutes had passed as they gazed unwavering at each other, and unknowingly the ghost had slowly drifted closer, those huge, blue orbs compelling it. Only when its body had left the hole entirely had it realized that it was moving at all. Their eye contact had finally broke when its gaze flicked around in confusion, not understanding the female’s effect on it.

When it had finally looked back, the female was just as still, just as emotionless, but her arm had been outstretched, palm open and relaxed in invitation. Waiting. The ghost had understood what she wanted immediately, but it had also understood that she was giving it a choice. A choice that lead to where, and how had she expected it to make such a choice when it knew nothing?

A choice, it had also seemed, that she would not influence it on. It knew nothing and she had showed it nothing other than her presence, but had she not understood that her mere presence was influence enough? In fact, she probably had.

Despite all of its knowledge and its duty and the reason for which it was created, despite all of that, it was drawn to her. And that was wrong because she wasn’t a guardian. It hadn’t found her broken, forgotten husk lying in the sands waiting to be filled with light. It hadn’t helped her learn about this new, strange world or guided her through battle after battle and mission after mission. It hadn’t formed that bond, that forever bond only to have her ripped away in a torrent of destruction.

It hadn’t lost her yet.

More than anything, this ghost hadn’t been searching because it hadn’t wanted to find. Already, it had lost so many, so many guardians. It didn’t have a heart, but whatever fueled it was undoubtedly broken. With each subsequent death, its light had diminished, and its once gleaming white shell had blackened until it faded away in the night, evidence of the darkness settling in.

This ghost… had been lost.

Perhaps, it had thought, it wasn’t wrong because it could not take another loss. It knew nothing of this female, of what she offered, but it had to be better than suffering through losing another guardian. It was lying to itself again; it was hiding and running. This was nothing more than an excuse, but it hadn’t cared. It was a coward.

With only the barest of hesitation, it floated forward and settled comfortably into the open palm. The connection had been instant. The ghost’s light had flared at the contact and it felt an answering call from the female. Their individual waves had fluctuated, her rapid frequency slowing as its own sluggish one picked up and they eventually met somewhere in the middle. A bond formed as the light settled, a bond formed of their essence, stringing together their very existence.

If had felt so much in that moment, learned so much, and understood the only thing it had ever understood about this female, she was suffering. It had been wrong. This female was not the path to hiding and cowardice; this female was the answer, for she had been just as lost and now they had both been found. She may not have been a guardian, but she was still a creature of light.

For the first time in a very long time, and the ghost did not know how the knowledge was just suddenly there in its mind, the female had smiled. She smiled at it with genuine happiness and it had snuggled itself further into her palm feeling like this was where it had always belonged.

This ghost… had wandered willingly into the unknown and it had never looked back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I feel like our lovable ghost never gets any of the spotlight, especially in fanfic. I think it partially has to do with the fact that the ghost is a 1-D character in the game with no character development whatsoever (not that any of the characters actually had that much development either), which is a shame because they have so much potential. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and please R&R! Next time on Indulging in the Unknown: Cayde-6 and Zavala make an appearance. Oh my!


	6. Line of Sight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all my lovely readers as always; you guys are the motivation that fuels the creativity. Keep up the love and I will keep churning out chapters!

“Cleo, Cleo…” Cayde-6 pleaded with the female sitting to his left nose deep in some book or another, “I can’t take it anymore. You have got to stop mumbling to yourself.” Since they had started their patrol, the human female had been continuously reciting what sounded like nonsense to him while periodically stopping midsentence to perform some calculations and record them in a journal.

“Leave her be, Cayde. She is working on something of importance to aid Apprentice Rahool in his research,” said Zavala as he continued to survey the area from their perch on the cliff tops in the eastern border of the Forgotten Shore.

“I know, I know because Warlocks are always doing such important things all day long… like staring really, really hard at a rock for a few hours,” said Cayde-6 trying to goad her.

Apparently it worked as she finally looked up from her book and fired off a snappy retort. “Yes, because polishing our knives brings such worth to society,” she said with what he knew was an annoyed look although he couldn’t see it behind her standard-issue helmet.

He gave her the exo version of a grin and replied, “Well I’ve never tried to kill a Fallen Captain with a book, but you let me know how that goes for you.” Cleo just shook her head and returned to her writings, which only succeeded in amusing him further. It didn’t last very long though; the all-encompassing boredom of this patrol crept back in quickly.

He eyed the large Titan to his right, wondering how he could have managed to get placed on a fireteam with the only stoic, stuck-up, and completely humorless titan he had ever met. Most of them were big, brutish, and prone to punching each other all day long, but at least they were entertaining. “Before I rust away from inactivity, can someone explain to me why I am here?” Cayde-6 hadn’t thought to even ask why he was being placed in a fireteam when he had traveled alone for so long but assumed it was important. _This is **not** important._

“Andal has decreed it. He says you are too rash and unpredictable in battle; you are here to learn patience,” said Zavala with the same reserved tone he always used.

As far as he was concerned, being adventurous and unpredictable in battle were good qualities, but he wasn’t going to argue with the awoken. No, he was going to get through this and then have a conversation with Andal; his friend had some explaining to do. “Right, well what exactly are we doing here then?”

Zavala gestured out from the cliffs toward the expanse of ground stretched out before them. “We are mapping out the enemy’s movements in this particular area of the Forgotten Shore.”

 _Mapping out the enemy’s movements! What enemies?_ “Zavala, I don’t know if you know this, but we’ve been here for four hours and there hasn’t been a single enemy.”

Cleo piped up from behind him, “If you spent more time reading and less time stabbing things, you would know that the absence of an enemy in a particular location can be just as important as their presence.” She said it in that condescending tone that she used to say most things when addressing him, and then once again returned to her work as if the both of them did not exist.

“Cleo is correct, but in addition to her point, I have spent many mornings in this same location and a Fallen patrol consistently shows up in the southern quadrant. The dregs rotate, but it has been the same vandal every time. I believe there is some significance.”

As if to justify Zavala’s point, far off in the distance in a small clearing, movement caught his attention. He took a few steps closer to the edge so that he could focus better on the scene. Without pulling out a weapon with a scope he couldn’t be sure, but it did indeed look like a vandal and two dregs. The camouflaged barrel of a Trajan-C hit the edge of the cliff with a soft clank near his foot; apparently Cleo was done with her studies and way ahead of him. “Same vandal, Zavala. One of the dregs is a repeat, the other is new. 1500 meters, but… damn. We may have been made.”

“What makes you think that?” Cayde-6 asked truly curious about her reasoning.

She didn’t take her helm away from her scope, but still answered him, although her voice was entirely matter of fact for once. “We have been doing this for many weeks. They arrive from the north, maintain their position throughout the day, and then depart for the north again. They have never left that location. They are now slowly advancing on our position. I’m not an expert on Fallen body language, but they appear to be trying to hide the fact that they are moving this way intentionally. Clever creatures.”

“Maintain surveillance. Their movement could be unrelated. If they move within 1200 meters, we will take them out. We cannot afford for the Fallen to know of our surveys,” said Zavala who now had his ghost out and was conversing with it quietly.

Not more than five minutes and Cleo spoke up again, “1250 meters, but now they are hiding behind a small cliff face. There is a ridge on the other side of the cliff that runs along the water and they could use it to flank us.”

 _Finally a little action._ Cayde-6 pulled out his favorite knife, determined to spill some Fallen blood today with his own two hands. He was running along the cliff ledge before anyone had the chance to call him back. These rocks ran northwest for about 200 meters and their end marked the perfect place to leap for the ground. It would be much faster than trying to climb straight down.

Expectantly, Zavala’s voice filled his head when a voice channel opened up between the three of them. “What are you doing? I have not given you orders.”

“Orders were to take them out if they got too close and now they are hiding. Besides, if they ever poke their little heads out, 250 glimmer says the vandal hides before Cleo even gets a shot off.”

He could hear Cleo scoffing in the background, but Zavala’s voice overrode everything else, “You are to…” but the exo had his ghost mute the subsequent incoming transmissions from then on as he did not want to hear Zavala’s disapproving tone.

“You know this is exactly why Andal put you on this patrol,” came his ghost’s voice through his helmet.

“I know, but it’s better than sitting up there and doing nothing.” As soon as his boots hit the end of the crumbling cliffs, a shot sounded once and then quickly another, accompanied by the barely audible rush of Fallen souls leaving their bodies. Even in the middle of his descent, Cayde-6 had seen the two dregs go down, but like he had predicted, the vandal had spun right and out of their line of sight. Right before he hit the ground, he activated his double jump to take the velocity out of the fall. He hit the ground with a roll and transitioned smoothly into a flat-out sprint across the dry ground.

He covered 400 meters with ease before another shot sounded, but once again the vandal hid and Cleo just missed. A lone vandal didn’t present much of a challenge, but it was still better than nothing as he had told his ghost. 800 meters and counting, the exo stumbled from the force of a massive explosion that rocked the area. He dove for cover behind the remnants of a downed ship and scanned the terrain wondering how he could possibly have missed any hostiles. The strange thing was he saw nothing, until…

…high up in the cliffs where his fireteam had held their position, the remnants of a void vortex covered the area obscuring everything from his sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, we are starting to get more characters and a broader storyline. Don’t worry though, this is necessary for the plotline; I’m just setting everything up. The Fallen will still totally be the center of this story.


	7. A Lack of Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of my readers!  
> I’m so excited for where we’re headed, I just want to get there! Hope you guys continue to enjoy. I’m putting a lot of effort in here.

Even as the ghost watched her watching the vandal she had chosen to lie with, it still hadn’t looked back, still hadn’t regretted its decision. Little by little, it learned about her. Little by little it pieced together a picture although of what it did not know yet. In the beginning her activities had disturbed it, but now it realized that for some reason this was important to her. For whatever reason, she needed to do this and although she enjoyed the sex, it wasn’t really about sleeping with these creatures. It was something else entirely.

Right now the female was crouched low into the vegetation that surrounded their hiding spot while it waited patiently in the background for the inevitable question to arrive. She always preferred to survey and study other creatures before she asked what information it had compiled on the species. Right now, they were up to three weeks of watch time, which meant it would be any day now.

As if right on cue, it felt her ask the question, _what is it?_ There were no spoken words, she hardly ever sent it real words in her own voice and she had never spoken aloud. The ghost had heard her vocalize more times than it wanted to acknowledge, but not even a single word had graced her lips in all the time that they had been together. It didn’t know why the female communicated this way because she understood language, but in the end it was effective for it had never misunderstood her. It received thoughts, images, and emotions as though through a transmission and then suddenly the written words were just there in its mind.

“I’m not sure what their species name actually is, but we call them Fallen.”

_Why?_

“Not sure. That’s actually what they call themselves and I don’t think anyone had ever questioned it, although the cryptarchs are probably dying to know.”

 _Details_.

“I’ve got the abbreviated version and the long version, how much do you want to know?”

“Long version it is. The Fallen are a nomadic species that arrived in our solar system after The Collapse. We’re not sure why they’re here other than the fact that they are interested in scavenging Golden Age technology and oh yeah, killing us. They are carnivorous, but also require a substance called ether to survive, which they seem to be able to consume in any form although they prefer to inhale it. They share many of their biological characteristics with our insects and arachnids, which has caused many a guardian to lovingly refer to them as ‘Spider Pirates’.” The female turned briefly at its sarcasm and gave an amused smile, which delighted it even though it was but a small gesture.

“The smaller ones next to the one you like are called dregs and for the most part they are unintelligent and relatively weak. The higher ranks use them as cannon fodder and menial laborers. If they do manage to survive long enough and prove their worth in some form or another, they get a larger supply of ether and grow into your favorite, the vandal. Smarter, faster, and stronger, they can actually be a challenge sometimes especially with a Wire Rifle although they pale in comparison to the captain.” That got her immediate attention as it had already known would be the case. Surprisingly, or just great timing, they had yet to see a Fallen Captain since arriving on the planet and for both their sakes, it hoped they never would.

_Captain?_

“Don’t even think about it. Captains are way more dangerous than vandals and highly intelligent as well. They are not so instinctual and driven by need like your knight, which means they will not be so easily manipulated.” Even if it had accepted their strange mission, the ghost still tried its best to keep her safe and that meant steering her toward the weaker members of a species. They had gotten extremely lucky with the knight. Probably because the Hive’s numbers on Earth were in need of replenishing and they were all actively trying to breed.

There was a long pause where the ghost seriously hoped she was thinking hard about what it said, but then came the dreaded word, _please?_

“It’s not a good idea,” it warned even though it came out more as a plea.

_Please?_

The ghost sighed knowing that it was going to regret giving up this information. “I’ll start with the bigger picture since it will be easier to understand that way. Fallen are organized into houses based on their allegiance. There are two houses on Earth, the House of Devils, which adorn themselves in crimson and the House of Kings, who wear gold. There is also the House of Winter on Venus and the House of Exile on the moon. Except for the House of Exile, which is unique in that it is made up of outcasts from the other houses, each house has a trio of leadership: an archon, a kell, and a prime servitor.”

_Servitor?_

The ghost was unprepared for her interruption as it was an uncommon occurrence, and stumbled over its words for a second before getting them out, “We’re not actually sure what servitors are or how they came to be part of the Fallen because they are sentient machines, similar to me I guess, but definitely not organic. They are worshipped as deities because they produce the ether the Fallen need to survive.”

The female was enthralled with the idea of servitors. The ghost could feel that she wanted to see one, but since she refrained from prompting it about them further, it continued with its explanation from before her question, “Archons and kells, through the addition of more ether, are really just massive Fallen Captains but there is only ever one of each per house. Below them are many, many crews, each of which is led by a captain. They are as vicious as they are clever and highly skilled in battle, which means it is best to **avoid** them,” it said with extra emphasis.

She just gave it that smile, that one smile that was amused and appreciative all at the same time. That smile that said she understood its warning but would not heed it. Sometimes, it really hated that smile.

Particularly because there was nothing it could do about it, it finally relented, “Fine, but just be careful, please?”

That was true at least; she was always very careful about these introductions and the subsequent interactions. “So how are you planning to go about this?”

_Vandal first. If favorable, then captain._

_“_ Are you ever going to tell me why you are doing this?” It tried to keep its voice calm, but a hint of sadness, worry, and exasperation crept through. She would notice; she always noticed everything.

It was surprised when she left her hiding place, making her way over and pausing in front of it with a look that it couldn’t quite decipher. There was something in her eyes, something but it didn’t know what. She stared at it for a few moments more, and then gave a sad smile while holding out her palm. The ghost settled in the waiting hand, not knowing what she was thinking, but expecting nothing anyways. It was surprised all over again.

A word, a true word this time, in her own voice. Now, it was thrilled. If it could have smiled, then it would have but there was no need, she would feel its mood change anyways. In fact, her own sad smile changed to one of real happiness, but the moment was ruined as if it had never been. Her face snapped upwards with a look of concentration that it recognized as her listening to something intently. Seconds later and what could be nothing other than a guardian’s sniper rifle fired two rounds in quick succession. The shots were accompanied by the distinct sound of two Fallen souls escaping their bodies.

The ghost left her palm, searching over the ridge top they were hiding behind for the source of the sound. It located the guardians almost immediately, two high up in the cliffs and one sprinting across the ground toward the Fallens’ location.

This was not good. The reticence that filled her at the mere mention of the word guardian had not escaped its notice. What would she do when she found out that at least two of the Fallen were dead, possibly the one she had chosen? It didn’t know, maybe nothing; there were plenty of other vandals on the planet. It wasn’t as if she had lost the opportunity. It looked at her still form, listening to everything, taking everything in, but also waiting for the ghost to tell her what it knew. It looked at her and just didn’t believe that her reaction would be nothing. To simply move on and find another.                                                                                                                      

It was about to speak when another shot pierced the airwaves and the ghost mentally winced. It hadn’t heard the soul, but that didn’t mean the last Fallen wasn’t dead, it just meant that it hadn’t been a precision shot. Guardians rarely missed.

Distracted by its own thoughts, the ghost had missed the fact that she had returned to her previous spot. It could feel her growing frustration the longer she remained unable to see any of the Fallen. It had to tell her. “There are three guardians in the area, two set up high in the cliffs for sniping and one making for the Fallen right now.” She didn’t move, she didn’t even acknowledge that she had heard it. “The sound… the sound we heard after the first two rounds is the sound of a Fallen’s soul leaving its body.” Still no reaction. “It means two of them are dead, and if the third shot didn’t finish off the last one, then the Hunter will kill it. You’re vandal is most likely…” but it couldn’t finish. The words were lost as the female’s face turned toward it.

What it saw there filled it with dread. There was no anger or malice or hatred. There was nothing to see on that beautiful face, but her eyes held the guardians’ deaths.

Of all the information it had gathered during its time with her, it had learned very quickly that she was a pragmatic creature. This had nothing to do with emotion; the guardian’s had interfered with her plans and now she was going to kill them to prevent it in the future. She didn’t understand that she couldn’t do this. How could it make her understand?

The female stood in one lightning fast movement. The fingers of her right hand curled into an open palm, and there, deep purple void light started to gather. It sparked and crackled as the vortex grew, individual tendrils lashing outward and dispensing charge into the air. The ghost could feel the pull on its own light as she channeled it into her palm.

When she took her first step forward, its dread turned to desperation. This wasn’t right, but what could it do? She was already upon it. The ghost couldn’t let this happen, it couldn’t let her do this. She passed by it, moving for the ridge with unmistakable intent. It tried to speak, it wanted to reason with her, but no words came out because it didn’t know what to say. The drain on their light reached its apex, the vortex swirling with maximum power. She took that last step forward, her body tensing as she prepared to unleash.

“You… can’t.” She paused her advance at its address. The female faced it again and cocked her head to the side as if studying it and its words. The ghost knew she did not understand. What could it say? “You can’t kill a guardian,” it repeated for the lack of a better explanation. One other thing it had learned over these past two years was that once she had decided to do something, nothing it could say or do would change her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyways, hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to what comes next on Indulging in the Unknown!  
> Don’t forget to drop me a review. Gives me those happy little goosebumps whenever I get one! Oh, and btw I do appreciate criticism and grammar Nazis, so give me some honesty. Promise I take it all really well and am thankful for any input.


	8. Mood Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of my lovely readers. You guys are the best! As a writer, I feel so proud of the work I’m putting out when I know you guys are enjoying it. BTW, I combined a few of the previous chapters and posted new ones so you may want to reread. You might not have read the new chapters 5, 6, and 7 yet.
> 
> Another short, but equally as important, chapter for you guys and the last one from our femme’s POV for a long while. Thank goodness, they are such a PITA to write! Haha, but this is also the last chapter of the introductory/background section of this fic. From here on out, things are really going to start happening. Finally!   
> Hope you enjoy.
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-Language, Smidgen of sexual content.

The smell of fresh leaves. Light, cool breeze. Star high in the sky, illuminating everything. Expanse of ground dusted with snow, glittering in the starlight. Beautiful.

Movement far ahead. Small clearing, perfect location. Everything is viewable, they are viewable. He… is viewable.

Watching, always watching. Learning everything. His form: tall, taller and larger, broader through the chest. Four arms, four eyes. Beautiful, light blue eyes. He is covered in armor, covered in technology. Strange helm, strange facemask. His movements: strong, fast. Running, jumping, climbing. Stealthy. His behavior: in command of others. Directing, leading.

 _I need to know more. About them, all of them._ _What is it?_

Ghost explains. _Fallen…_ Origin unknown. Desires unknown. Needs partially known. Characteristics partially known.

 _Vandal…_ Yes, she liked him. She wanted him. Seeing him, watching him. Her body was hot. _Yes… yes, I want him. Wait…_

…Ghost is saying something. Curiosity. Much curiosity. _Captain?_

“Don’t even think about it. Captains are way more dangerous than vandals and highly intelligent as well. They are not so instinctual and driven by need like your knight, which means they will not be so easily manipulated.” _Highly intelligent_ … _Most before were not so intelligent. Instinctual, yes. Always, instinctual. Perhaps, intelligent is better, is necessary. But it will be harder as Ghost indicates…_

_…I must try. This is my last chance. Please?_

Ghost is unhappy, but still it helps. It explains Fallen. Listening. So much to hear, so much to learn. One word resounds… _Servitor?_

Similar to Ghost. Living, sentient machine. Fascinating, but more. _I must see one, I must meet one but…_ Later, there would be time.

 _Archons… Kells… Captains…_ Massive creatures. Intelligent. Dominating. Vicious. Stirring in response, abdomen, groin. Want. Arousal. Desire. Every word sounded… good. _I want it, I want them._

…

Vandal first. Acceptance was necessary before all else.

 _“_ Are you ever going to tell me why you are doing this?” Everything stopped, she stopped.

Ghost is upset, saddened, frustrated.

For a moment, for Ghost, her mission could wait. She went to it. She wanted to tell it, she would tell it, but not now. _Ghost will only worry more._ After, when it was all over, she would explain. _Ghost will be angry…_ but it was better that way. _If Ghost knew…_ _it would be devastated._ Still, it might be. If this time, her last chance, was a failure. _It will be alone._ It was unfair to Ghost, she was unfair to Ghost. _No… I will not fail._

Arm raises, palm up, open. An invitation. Ghost settles within. Light flares minutely. Good feeling.

A word, a true word this time, in her own voice. She felt herself say it. Ghost was thrilled. She was thrilled. She wanted to say more, she could feel the words, Ghost would be so…

…

A sound, a weapon. _Wait! What was I trying?_ Moments before. There had been something.

Thinking. Thinking so hard…

It was gone. She lost it. She couldn’t remember…

…

A second passes. A slight scraping. Another second, two shots fire. An unrecognizable sound. Ghost is looking, searching for source. Waiting. It will explain. Ghost returns. It knows. Another shot. Ghost is not speaking. It is thinking. Returning. Watching, waiting. Nothing.

 _Where?_ More watching, more waiting. Still nothing. Frustration. _Where?_

“There are three guardians in the area, two set up high in the cliffs for sniping and one making for the Fallen right now.”

 _Guardian._ That word again, that feeling. They were something wrong. Now, they were something deadly. _Guardian._ They interfered. Three shots, three Fallen. They were dead, he was… dead. _I will have to start again._ So little time left. No more interference. _I will kill them._

Turning. Ghost is staring, but says nothing. Standing. Hand opens, light comes. Power. Raw, beautiful power from the void. Ghost feels the connection, the drain. It is hesitant, but still says nothing. More and more. Walking. More and more. Passing Ghost, until… it is ready. One more step. In position. Body tenses, fingers clenching. The last pull…

“You… can’t.”

Stopping. The power swirls, still ready. Turning toward Ghost. _I don’t understand._

“You can’t kill a guardian,” it repeats.

She must. _Ghost doesn’t understand._ It wasn’t Ghost’s fault. It was hers.

Body tenses. Intending to turn. “Stop.”

Stopping. _Ghost… commands? How strange. Perhaps…_ The light pulls hard. Crackling, wanting to be used or set free. Pushing at it, settling it again. No distractions, no interruptions. _I must do this._

“No, you don’t. We will find another vandal. There are hundreds more, if not thousands,” Ghost argues strongly. More strongly than ever before.

_It does not understand._

“Yes, because you won’t tell me anything.” Ghost does not back down. _Arguing?_ _Guardians… are important to Ghost._

She looked at it. Ghost stared back. She didn’t want to fight, but she must.

 _Ghost…_ another true word. It flinches in surprise. _Ghost, I mus…_

…A sound. A scent. Movement to the right. Moving. Looking, seeing. He… is alive and… _watching me._ Staring right back. He glances down. Eyes following his to... _my palm._ The void. Swirling, pulsing, waiting. Eyes find his again.

Looks at Ghost, smiling. Sends reassurance, acceptance. Body spins rapidly, simultaneously lifting into the air. Guardians are viewable. Palm flashes outward toward them. A sharp thrust of will.

She unleashed the void.

Ghost zooms passed, trying to see. It is worried, agitated, confused. It turns back. “But I thought…”

Calming, soothing. _Aimed low. Distraction._

“What?” Ghost returns, looking. Realization. “You just wanted the explosion, to save your vandal. The hunter is returning to investigate.” Pauses. “You know, you could have just said something beforehand unless… you were fucking with me on purpose.” Ghost is annoyed, but amused.

“Uh-huh. Do you know how hard it is to keep up with you, and your mood changes?” More smiling. “Anyways, as much awe as I am in that you were able to have that good of aim from this far away, we may have just given ourselves away.”

Smile fades. _Yes, we must go._

“Yeah, but now they will be curious as to what happened. We won’t be able to hide forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R and R! I would love to see what you guys have thought about this beginning section of the fic.
> 
> Next time on Indulging in the Unknown, smut, smut, smut! Didn’t I promise you guys?


	9. Trails

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like always, thank you to all of my wonderful readers for your support. Sorry it has been awhile. Work has been crazy because of FY end and I’m in the process of buying my first home! Kind of distracting but equally as exciting!
> 
> Anyways, I’m not entirely happy with this chapter, but I don’t want to stress over it any longer, so you can have it. I’ve proof-read it, but haven’t looked over it as thoroughly as I normally would, so there are probably a few mistakes. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-Interspecies sex, heterosexual sex, consensual sex, rough sex, size kink, voyeurism, exhibitionism (kind of)

The surrounding air was laced with sluggishly dissipating hunting pheromones and the sweetly metallic scent of spilt lifeblood. Normally, such a combination of scents would send his mind into a frenzy of instinct and need to hunt and kill and consume. Right now, as he knelt on the damp, frigid ground behind the ridge staring at the strange nuur’khu, Lykrosis felt nothing but confusion.

He had watched the coalescence and subsequent rhythmic swirl of the dense vortex as the creature gathered nuur to its claw. He had also understood that despite how it had stared at him so intently while its posture threatened, it had purposely turned the nuur on the other nuur’khu instead.

The stealth vandal returned to his previous location, hidden completely from the view of others’, so he could think. Presently, he was unsure of what he had just witnessed. He had thought the creature’s intention was to discover the location of the home caves, and that this ambush had been its contingency plan if discovered, but now Lykrosis was unsure of what it wanted. So much of what it did was strange behavior for nuur’khu and seemingly illogical.

The way it adorned itself, the lack of armor; it was unthinkable for Fallen and all of the other creatures he had glimpsed since having been spawned. However, its covering suggested that it was not concerned about damage to its body even though it clearly had contact with other species, the scene between the creature and the sdee’al springing to the forefront of his mind like it had so many times since first witnessing the event. It had no doubt enjoyed the grappling, but he still couldn’t identify what it gained the creature.

All other nuur’khu would simply have attacked it. They would have fought it, destroyed it, and enjoyed themselves while doing it. If it had been a high ranking target, then they would have taken trophies from it, and some of them would even have studied it. None would have… used it the way this one did. _What does it gain with this behavior, why would it attack other nuur’khu?_

The more he thought about it, the more he finally started to understand until finally he came to an answer. This creature did not behave as expected because whatever **it** was, it wasn’t a nuur’khu… and that revelation rekindled his curiosity. On this planet, he knew only of nuur’khu and Zkr K’ Rav, but he had heard of other creatures that had tried to claim other planets. Rumors of Fallen fighting such creatures for territory were widespread, so maybe it was a scout, evaluating the Fallen Houses here and the available space.

However, that didn’t explain its association with the sdee’al.

Speculating further would only lead to more questions, so Lykrosis decided instead that he was just going to follow it and see where it was hiding its own lair. If he could find it, then he could study its machinations and finally understand what it was. If he was blessed, then he might find information and maybe even possessions worth giving to the captain.

That plan in mind, he surveyed the surrounding area to make sure the nuur’khu were still preoccupied and then returned to his previous location to get eyes on the other creature. As soon as he rounded the corner, Lykrosis trilled aggressively, but also in mild surprise because it was waiting right there, less than a ntr. He quickly backpedaled, drawing his blades and activating his stealth at the same time as he removed himself from the creature’s reach. Just as before though, it did nothing but stare at him, its eyes perfectly tracking his movements as though his stealth had no effect.

The nuur’az, which had been following closely behind, spoke loudly as it floated passed them both, “We don’t have time for that.” The creature looked at it when it spoke, back at Lykrosis again, and then continued on its way with complete apathy in his position. Once again, he got the impression that it did not feel threatened nor did it fear bodily harm. _Foolish creature._ _It is fortunate that I do not intend to end its existence… yet._

He watched the pair as they followed along the coast of the Forgotten Shore, but did not move to pursue them. On foot, they left a distinct scent trail, but whatever technology the creature possessed to enable it to teleport did not leave a trace of evidence behind. He would stay far behind so as not to attract attention and most likely, they would lead him right to their lair.

Even though he did not intend to follow yet, he did move out of the area as the nuur’khu presence was unfavorable, even if they were currently distracted. Quickly and silently, he covered the ground in short sprints, stopping and hiding behind anything that would cover his crouched form before advancing again. His stealth remained active and he scented the area frequently to not only keep track of his prey’s movements, but also so that he would not be caught unawares by anything else.

As he got closer, Lykrosis realized that they weren’t heading for their lair, at least not yet; this path would lead them to the hollow where he had first seen the creature. He immediately wondered if he was going to see the display again and felt, surprisingly enough, not just curiosity but anticipation. It was a strange feeling and he didn’t know the underlying reason, but he desired to see the nuur’khu and sdee’al grapple again.

Instead of following the path by the downed ship, Lykrosis approached the area from the clifftops that overlooked the hollow. The openness and higher vantage point afforded him with more space to attack and retreat should he be discovered. There was no vegetation to hide his form, but his stealth was adequate given the seclusion this location offered. _High probability to be the reason behind the creature’s choice._

Looking over the side, he found the pair already entwined together, growling and moaning as they rutted again one another. The desire that flooded him was both welcome and confusing, but he cared not; he was too entranced with the sight.

They were in the same position as before with the sdee’al slamming roughly into the creature from behind, the long shaft plunging in and out over and over again. The massive body towered over that of its tiny partner, large, deadly claws grasping at the soft skin below. Blue lifeblood flowed freely as thin trails down the shining flesh, and his eyes followed each drip as they fell to the wet ground below. Lykrosis wanted nothing more in that moment than to taste that fluid for himself.

As he took in the scene below, the various scents assaulted him, each one more potent than the last. Fresh water, rich soil, and sweet lifeblood, all delicious in their own right, were overrode by the distinctive, yet similar, scents that poured off of the heated bodies below. Each intake was a shock to his system and caused a spike in his desire although he knew not even what these pheromones were for. They were nothing like anything he had ever smelt before.

Abruptly, the sdee’al crushed its smaller partner flush to its groin and let out a deafening roar. The creature’s response was its customary moaning and writhing while its claws scratched deep rivulets into the ground. Next came that uniquely perfect scent, that scent that caused his whole body to light up and a rapid clenching in his own groin.

The sdee’al emptied the shaft inside of the creature and then disengaged itself. It did not linger, instead collecting its abandoned blade by the pool’s edge and departing quickly up the hill.

Lykrosis was disappointed that it had ended so quickly. He had not forgotten his reason for being here, but the scene was intriguing and the feeling it stirred within his own body was… intoxicating. Still, that feeling had already started to fade and he needed to focus so that he could effectively track the creature now that it would undoubtedly head for its lair.

Or that was his plan until the creature disappeared without the accompaniment of nuur just as it had before, taking its little machine with it. It had barely put forth the effort to clean itself and replace its garments, when it was gone. Lykrosis growled lowly in annoyance, debating with himself on whether or not he should search the area for it.

_No, I will not waste the energy._

For he knew that he would find… nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’ve come full circle! Haha, but seriously. Anyone have any guesses for next chapter?
> 
> Fallen Language  
> I’ve decided that the plurality of their nouns will be contextual. So they do not have different words like foot vs. feet nor do they add an –s like dog vs. dogs. Instead all nouns can be both singular and plural like the words deer or fish.
> 
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur’khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> Nuur-guardian light  
> Sdee’al-Hive Knight  
> Ntr-measure of length. It is equivalent to about a meter.  
> Zkr K’ Rav-literally means to be of necrosis and decay. This is what Fallen call the Hive.  
> Nuur’az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.


	10. Purpose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!!!! Another chapter for you guys that took way too long to write, but at least its finally here. I’m hoping to get the next one out quick. Hope you guys like this chapter (because it was a bitch and a half to write lol) and are looking forward to what I have planned for our characters. You’ll see what I mean soon enough.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading and for all of the kudos. You guys are awesome that way. Comments good, bad, or otherwise are always appreciated!
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-Interspecies sex, heterosexual sex, consensual sex, rough sex, size kink, voyeurism, exhibitionism (kind of)

From then on, Lykrosis visited the hollow after every patrol and each time the pair were there. Sometimes he had to wait for them, sometimes they were already in the midst, but no matter the stage of their display, he watched unwavering. The cold mass of the sdee’al as it entwined itself around the radiating form of the creature. The slices and tears it made as it grasped at the willing form below. The sheen of water that slowly covered the creature’s form the longer they moved, although from where it came he did not know.

The growling excited him, pulled at his instincts, his primal desires while the creature’s moaning and shouts fueled an indescribable feeling within his abdomen. It was the scent more than anything that interested him. Fallen had a heightened sense of smell because they were just as reliant on chemical communication as they were verbal. He knew Fallen scents and he knew prey scents; he even knew some scents that were universal such as that of fear. This, however, he did not know, but he did understand it. Whatever was being released by these two was meant to entice and excite, and it was doing just that.

Whatever this display was, his body liked it and that kept him coming back to this place even though he could be severely punished if the captain became knowledgeable. He had not forgotten that his reason for following the creature was to learn about it and ultimately help his crew be preemptive if it turned out to be hostile, but so far he had learned nothing. If he didn’t soon locate its lair, then he would have to report its existence to Kreesis.

As illogical as it was because he could see everything perfectly from his current location, he wanted to be closer to the pair. The vandal left the cliff’s edge heedless of the danger and returned to the path, moving slowly so as not to attract attention, although it probably didn’t matter. The pair were too engrossed in each other to notice anything around them. Or so he had thought. As soon as he settled into a crouch behind the vegetation surrounding the downed ship, the creature’s eyes snapped open.

Lykrosis stilled, an instinctual attempt to remain hidden, but there was no question; it already knew he was there.

Sure enough, its head turned toward him, and for the first time since he had been watching, it lifted up on its claws. Immediately, the sdee’al let out a roar and shoved the creature back into the ground harshly with a claw around its neck. Its growling was louder and directed at its partner now instead of into the surrounding air as before. Its thrusting became faster and harder, its hips moving with a speed Lykrosis thought impossible while it jerked the creature’s body backward against it. The sdee’al pounded into the creature with such viciousness that Lykrosis was sure its body would break under the force. The ferocity appeared to him as though it was trying to reaffirm its dominance over the creature after its small defiance.

He wasn’t sure what had prompted the change in behavior, but the creature’s eyes closed again, cries spilling from its strange mouth, and its expression changing to that which Lykrosis now recognized as pleasure. _It enjoys such savage treatment…_

The reaction intrigued him. Not only was the sdee’al brutal in its movements, but Lykrosis didn’t understand how the shaft could even fit inside of the small creature. It didn’t seem possible without damage occurring, but that couldn’t be the case or the creature would not subject itself to this. What was happening at the joining site to make them both react in such a way?

Just one more question Lykrosis didn’t know how to answer, but he was nothing if not persistent. However, for now, he needed to focus on finding a way to track the creature, which was proving more difficult and irritating than he originally thought. After each display, the creature followed the same routine: bathe, armor itself, and then disappear. Not once had it left the area by ground as it had when first he had seen it.

 _Perhaps, the teleportation device leaves a trace that I have yet failed to discover. I will…_ but a bout of whimpering distracted him from his thoughts.

For whatever reason, the display had ended more quickly than it usually did. The two were panting heavily, the creature mostly limp against the soil and the sdee’al already filling the creature with the sweet smelling fluid. After only a few moments, they were finished and both parted as they always did.

Surprisingly though, the creature seemed content to remain. It entered the water to clean itself but was not swift in its actions even after the nuur’az had returned. When it was finished, it wrapped the pleasing crimson armor around itself and then sat at the base of the right-side cliff. It lifted an open claw to the nuur’az like he had seen nuur’khu do; however, instead of hovering above, it settled firmly into the creature’s claw, which was then pulled into its body.

He stayed for as long as his absence would go unnoticed by Kreesis, but the creature never departed. It lounged by the cliff seemingly without purpose and unperturbed by his presence. After a while, it leaned its head back against the darkened rock and closed its eyes. That same expression flitted onto its face many times although in reaction to what, he did not know. _Curious._

Lykrosis had never wanted to understand the creature more than he did right now. Something about its posture, its face, the entirety of the scene left him confused and intrigued more so even than the display.

With Fallen, nuur’khu, and Zkr K’ Rav there was always purpose to their behavior. Every action, every spoken word had a purpose, an intent, and more often than not, something to gain. Fallen wanted items and knowledge, nuurk’hu wanted glory, and Zkr K’ Rav wanted nothing more than to destroy, to consume everything, but especially nuur.

Every question he discovered about the creature pertained to its purpose and yet, it didn’t seem to have one.

_What does it want…_

* * *

 

When next he made his way down to the pools, the creature was already there removing its impractical coverings in favor of revealing its soft flesh. After it had finished revealing its body, it then waded leisurely into one of the pools, running claw tips lightly along the water’s surface as if testing the feel. It reached up and removed the small object holding the tendrils so that they fell lightly around its face. It dragged its claws through them for a bit and then submerged itself for a period.  

The texture of the tendrils had changed when it reemerged, growing heavy with the weight of the water as a single wash of black stark against its white flesh. Lykrosis continued to watch as it slowly spread water along its body and calmly flicked its eyes around taking in the area.

Long after that, the creature still stood in the same place, but now it was motionless. The sdee’al had never taken so long to arrive before and when the nuur’az returned from wherever it went during the display, he knew something was different.

“What do you think?” the little machine said aloud. There was no response from the creature although it did gain motion again when it turned its face upward to the floating nuur’az. “Well, he could just be… busy?” The creature gave it a look Lykrosis didn’t know how to interpret and again he cursed the fact that he did not understand their language. “Yeah, I don’t even believe that. Fine, so your knight is dead. What are you going to do now?” and the creature’s gaze focused sharply on his still form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaaahhh! I’m so excited. Anybody want to take a guess of how Lykrosis’ first time is going to go? :P :P :P :P :P :P
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Sdee’al-Hive Knight  
> Nuur’az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> Nuur’khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> Zkr K’ Rav-literally means to be of necrosis and decay. This is what Fallen call the Hive.  
> Nuur-guardian light


	11. A Simple Touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies, how about another chapter? :P Lol, I know it took me way too long to write but I try my best. Thank you as always for all of the reviews, favs, and follows. One could not ask for better fans.
> 
> Anyways, it’s probably not what you guys were expecting, but I do write for realism, so this is just the way it is. Don’t worry, we will get there very soon(spoiler-next chapter!!!!!!!) Enjoy!

“Yeah, I’m not doing that.”

Lykrosis leaned back on his haunches frustrated that he could not understand the incomprehensible noises coming from the small machine. Instead of floating steadily as it usually did, the nuur’az zipped from side to side and bobbed erratically punctuating the tail-end of words as it reversed directions.

Although the creature did not speak aloud in turn, there was no doubt in his mind that it communicated with the nuur’az in some manner. “Necessary? Why is this time any different? You are with these creatures in that way all the time and you’ve never asked me to stay.” They were definitely having a conversation and by the way they both kept turning toward his still form, it was about him.

He didn’t like that. Although he knew that the pair knew he had been watching them, they had never shown him attention in this manner. _I will leave now before their conversation terminates,_ he thought turning to depart in that same moment.

“And if he did? What would I do abo…” Lykrosis meant to leave, but the manner in which the nuur’az speech cut out so abruptly attracted his attention. He turned back to find them both staring directly at him and although the expressions were unknown to him, he felt… threatened. _I have lingered too long._

“Okay.” At that, the creature moved. He thought it would be an attack and braced himself for it shock blades coming up in defense, but instead it slowly wandered up the path flicking its eyes around as it always did.

The stealth vandal lowered his blades in confusion. He had been sure something was about to occur, but the creature moved languidly as if nothing had changed. _Why does it commit such strange behavior?_ he thought in exasperation, a disbelieving arm flick accompanying the emotion. Every action it took was contrary to what he predicted, everything about it frustrating him relentlessly.

Even so, right now, it commanded his attention. His eyes followed its form as they always did and only now did he realize that he was almost… impressed.

Lykrosis had watched many creatures move. He watched them wander and laze about; he watched them stalk other creatures and still under the threat of being stalked themselves. Often he scrutinized them for faults and weaknesses, and sometimes he simply followed their forms as he lie in wait for the optimal moment to strike.

So many things that he had seen and yet he’d never seen anything move like the creature did. There was an ease to its smooth glide, an almost fluid-like grace to every small movement. Even in its leisure it was poised, every twitch, calculated. Part of it he understood, confidence; it moved as he had seen Captains move and although he was loath to admit, as he had seen nuur’khu move. They did not fear bodily harm; they did not even consider it, but there was something else. There was something else within its movement that he just couldn’t identify.

Unlike Fallen and nuur’khu, which did not reveal their forms so brazenly, the creature’s true potential was not hidden behind armor. Where a nuur’khu would fool the naïve into believing them weak with their lighter forms, this creature did not bother. It may have been less in stature than himself but he could see the strength nonetheless. The underlying musculature stretched taut through the limbs and abdomen as it moved, and he vaguely wondered if its agility surpassed his own.

When it was only a few ntr, it surprised him again. Instead of engaging him or gathering its machine and leaving, it sat upon the ground comfortably facing him. _Strange creature_ , and his lower arm flicked downward again in an unconscious habit.

It remained completely still while they stared at each other and he waited for it to do something.

…

_It does nothing._

At first he thought it a ruse, but the more moments he waited without a reaction from the creature, the more he recognized that it was trying to engage him, but in a different manner.

It wanted something from him.

The truth of the situation came to him rather abruptly; Lykrosis had a choice to make: either remain and determine what it intended or leave this place and cease all interaction with the creature. It would no longer permit him to follow and simply watch from a distance.

It was a choice not so easily made. It should have been; there was nothing for him here other than to satiate his own curiosity. In fact, there was the potential for punishment and disgrace from his own, for pain and torture and even death, but still…

Perhaps he was too curious for his own good, he always had been, but he wanted to understand what this creature was. He wanted to understand what could conceal itself so effortlessly from others, what could evade him without leaving a trace. What could associate with a sdee’al and seek to associate now with one of the Fallen, let alone what could attack nuur’khu unaided.

The simplest answer was that he wanted to know what it wanted. _If punishment is to be what I receive, then let me at least acquire useful information prior._ Lykrosis was not one to dwell on a decision after he had made it and immediately dropped his stealth.

The creature’s only response was to make that expression again. It was the same as before with both corners of the mouth rising, but it also wasn’t. He had seen the expression come in a variety of forms and could only surmise that it meant something different each time, but without further viewings, he could not deduce its meaning now.

After many more moments of them staring at each other, Lykrosis began to feel foolish. Already he had dropped his stealth and yet still he stayed crouched in the underbrush as though they did not know he was there. He rose slowly but not hesitantly and then moved forward. He was cautious, scrutinizing everything so as not to be caught unawares if this was a trap, but his pride kept him upright and flowing with his own strength. He would not cower and creep like a lowly dreg.

He stopped just short of the creature and looked down upon it, his whole body thrumming with the possible danger this situation presented. His audio receptors were focused acutely on his surroundings in an effort to keep vigilant while his eyes focused on the creature waiting for it to indicate what it wanted. That indication came in the form of a slowly raising claw, which he instinctively took as an act of aggression and clenched his blades. A low growl escaped him, the only warning he would give it.

The claw stilled in the same instance and he took the moment to examine its uniqueness. It utilized five digits of varying size and was uncovered by the fabrics that aided in weapon handling. He could not deduce the reason to have so many as surely the extra two were redundant, but it was hardly the strangest detail the creature possessed.

Only late did he notice that the creature’s face had returned to vacancy, the previous expression wiped away. He wasn’t sure if that was favorable or not, but it did slowly retract the offending claw. When it moved again, he issued another warning, but it simply turned as it rose and returned to the closest pool.

After that, neither it nor the nuur’az looked at him again. They moved around the hollow, the nuur’az speaking every once and awhile and the creature presumably answering, but neither doing anything of significance as far as he could see.

Lykrosis was taken aback by their clear dismissal. Before it did not bother him because there was at least the pretense that they did not know he was scouting them, but now they were blatantly ignoring him. The anger within him stirred. The creature had sought him out, it wanted something from him and now it ignored him as though he was insignificant? _Do they not consider me a threat?_ he thought the anger now white hot, but almost as quickly as it rose, it stuttered.

Perhaps that was the problem. His past aggressiveness toward it and now, as it had begun to engage him, he had threatened it. With the sdee’al it did not fear bodily harm because already they associated, but it had no way of knowing whether or not he was attempting to trick it just as much as he suspected it of trickery.

If he was going to find out what the creature wanted, then he was going to have to go about this in a different manner.

Lykrosis allowed his body to relax as much as it could for the current situation and then returned to a crouch. He didn’t like the feeling of looking submissive in front of it because he would submit to no creature except his captains, but this was all he could think to do. His claws loosened reluctantly from his blades and he lay them to either side still within reach if the creature turned hostile.

“Hmm, I can’t believe that actually worked,” said the nuur’az as they both turned to face him and that expression returned to the creature. “I’ll just hover over there.” He watched the little machine float toward the cliff face to his left and then settle itself into the rocks. His face snapped back to the creature as it began to approach him and regardless of his will, his lower claws moved toward his blades.

It stopped. He waited for that expression to disappear, but instead it grew wider and then the creature dropped to claws and knees. It crawled toward him now, probably its own effort to appear less threatening and his claws retracted, the blades left to lie for now.

The creature’s movement slowed when it was only a few ntr giving him a period to adjust to its proximity, but he did not threaten it in this moment. As long as Lykrosis allowed it, the creature approached him and when it was as close as it could get without touching him, it rose gently into a kneeling position.

He wanted to further examine its features now that it was so close, but he focused instead on its raising claw. The movement was unhurried and the claw lax and open, both gestures an effort to placate him for what he understood was coming next. The joint twisted as it neared, closer and closer until just barely, it rested against his chest armor.

His forced relaxation crumbled under the touch. His lifeblood began to pump rapidly, his intake speeding up and with it his ether consumption. Never before had he willingly allowed another creature to touch him, even other Fallen, let alone something that could be dangerous. His lower claws were so close to grabbing his blades, so close that they rested on the hilts not quite grasping them yet.

His gaze lifted from the claw to the face and there he found that same expression. It was small and quiet, mouth closed, perfectly symmetrical; everything about it felt… calm. He was certain now that this was the creature’s way of showing its non-aggression. It remained as it was, giving him this stillness so that he may try to relax once again. He wasn’t sure how many moments it had been before he finally detached from his blades once again.

That expression broadened minutely, perhaps indicating that he had done what it wanted. And then he felt the slightest pressure against his chest armor. At first he thought it may have been accidental, it had been so slight, but he should have known better. The creature’s movements were always tightly controlled; patrol after patrol he had watched it to know just that.

Again it came, but this time just a fraction harder. It wasn’t overtly aggressive, but he still didn’t like it. When it came again even more forceful than the previous times, Lykrosis had had enough. He had a fraction of a moment to think that he would issue another warning for it to back off, but he was too late.

In an instant, a powerful thrust came from the open claw and he was falling backwards. _Foolish_ , was all he could think as he noticed the creature moving forward. Everything was happening so fast, but Lykrosis was a hunter and a warrior; he would not be taken so easily. His lower claws reached outward as much as they could and the right one made contact with the blade he was searching for.

 _This creature has no idea what it has done._ He hit the ground in a sitting position with the creature straddling him and his blade pressed firmly across its throat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So?  
> *Eagerly awaits reader response.*
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur’az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> Nuur’khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> Ntr-measure of length. It is equivalent to about a meter.  
> Sdee’al-Hive Knight


	12. Heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment and/or kudo! I am delighted with the response to this fic.  
> On that note, I hope you all are delighted with this next chapter. Here it is; the beginning of all the smutty goodness we’ve all been waiting for! Now, this chapter isn’t so smutastic, but that’s because I write for plausibility and you will see what I mean. Don’t worry your pretty little heads though, I’ve got plenty of experience in the smut department. It’ll be good, but it also won’t take over the storyline.
> 
> *Note-As you can see below, this chapter has a dubcon warning on it. Before anybody gets nervous, this is not because of the way its written (nothing like forceful or not really wanting it but relenting as you often see in dubcon tagged fics). This is more because I think Lykrosis’ ability to consent is up for debate being that he has no concept of what sex actually is. Anyways, I try to tag appropriately, but sometimes tags are not explicative.
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-Interspecies sex, heterosexual sex, explicit sex, dubcon

Lykrosis was still. It wasn't the feigned calm from previously nor the unnatural motionlessness of the creature. It was the stillness of a predator, a predator that had already selected its prey and now the kill was inevitable. His intake was so low to be almost non-existent, the barest of hisses the only evidence he still consumed his ether.

His senses were dulled to the environment, but heightened to this situation, this moment. His extra-sensitive lower claw grasped tightly the well-worn hilt of his shock blade. Light, blue nuur flickered as it traveled up and down the darkened metal. It sparked each time it passed through the section that pressed firmly into the creature's throat, faintly irritating the flesh but not quite searing yet.

 _I should slit its throat,_ and by the servitors, did he want to. He would revel in this kill, not just for the transgression it had just committed against him, but also for the defeat of such a worthy foe and the pleasure it would bring him.

Already, he could scent the creature's warmed lifeblood just beneath the surface, feel it through the claws it pressed against his chest armor. He could only imagine the feel as his blade tore through that soft flesh, the heat from the lifeblood as it gushed forth and poured onto his form below.

He wanted this, he wanted all of it. The creature was so hot, almost burning; the lifeblood called to him, to the most basic parts of his mind. Its pulse skipped in reaction to some event, then beat faster and faster, each thrum forcing the lifeblood throughout its lithe frame at an accelerated rate.

 _Yes,_ he thought, a low trill of excitement escaping him unbidden and he didn't care; his decision was ma—Lykrosis hesitated.

For a moment he thought—he scented the air again.

There, that unmistakable scent, previously imperceptible or perhaps it only emanated from the creature now. The wind reversed directions and what was faint before, now blew against him more fully. It surrounded him, saturating his receptors until it was hard to focus past those enticing pheromones.

Still he wanted to destroy the creature, but his body was reacting to the scent and he could not maintain his concentration. His own lifeblood pumped faster, his body heating up, although it still paled in comparison to that of the creature. His perfect stillness was ruined, predatory instincts superseded by the desire that came next. The unusual feeling began to build within his abdomen and with it the pressure in his groin.

Only now did he notice that at some point the nuur'az had floated closer and it was bobbing erratically, probably worried about what Lykrosis wanted to do to its owner. Even being so focused on delivering the fatal blow, he really should have noticed the movement.

His attention returned to the creature, which, unlike its little machine, had failed to do anything during the whole encounter other than stare at him. Now though, it leaned backwards just enough to disconnect from his blade, the only indication that it had even noticed the weapon.

And he let it go. Some part of him knew he should just kill the l'nat thing, but the other part was still too curious for his own good. _Curious and perhaps affected by this scent._ Regardless, the urge to kill the creature was waning and in its place returned his desire to understand what it wanted from him.

Moments passed with them staring at each other and then probably realizing that he no longer intended to slit its throat, one of its claws moved upwards off his chestplate. The back of it contacted the flat edge of his blade and then gently pushed it up and out of the way. He didn't like surrendering his advantage, but there was no point in maintaining the blade's position if he wasn't going to use it in that moment. Instead he returned it to the ground by his side and waited for the creature's next move.

He thought it would still again as was the pattern, but instead the soft flesh of its claws moved against his chest armor. They never applied any force; they simply moved leisurely following along edges and seems, just feeling the protective metal. He followed their progress acutely, switching his gaze back and forth between its face and the claws. When they trailed through the folds of his cloak where it attached to his chestplate, he noticed the expression finally returned to its face.

 _It is pleased,_ he mused, reasonably certain that he was interpreting the expression correctly now that he had witnessed it multiple times. Lykrosis didn't understand this. Why would touching his armor please it? What did it hope to gain with this new behavior?

 _Perhaps… perhaps it attempts to find weakness in construction._ The sudden realization heightened his senses, stripping away the desire to leave suspicion in its wake because the idea was entirely plausible. This creature had to be intelligent and manipulative to have survived for so long living the way it did. Perhaps it used the scent to entice its enemies, encourage them to yield momentarily whilst learning all that it could before the ruse could no longer be maintained.

At least he thought it plausible until his theorizing was interrupted by the creature's advance. The heat from the alien claws intensified as they shifted lower, still as innocuous as before, only touching, feeling. They ran down the thin stretch of bio-suit that covered his abdomen and rested at the latch on his belt. There they stilled, waiting.

It was in that moment that Lykrosis finally understood.

 **That** was what is wanted from him?

 _Ignorant creature,_ he thought in derisive amusement _._ All that it had done was for naught. Curious as he was in the scent and the display, did it not understand that his waste organ did not function in the same manner as that of the sdee'al? No, of course it didn't. Lykrosis didn't know why he had expected that the creature would know such a thing other than that it probably should have known given how it had pursued him.

Only moments ago, he thought it intelligent, but this miscalculation would prove to be its undoi—Lykrosis hissed loudly into the open air, all previous thoughts lost as a new sensation enveloped his body. He had been overconfident, not tracking the claws' movement during his revelation and reverie of the creature's incompetence. His gaze was drawn downward to his groin where it had managed to unlatch his belt and work open the panels of his bio-suit.

What he found there confused him more so than anything the creature had ever done.

His waste organ did not hang small and soft from his groin as it always had. Instead it stood straight out from his body, long and thick, enough so for the creature to have wrapped its claw around the base. The flesh was the same smooth, gray as the rest of him, but the shaft itself was made from several ridged plates ending in a rounded tip.

How had the creature known? How did it know more about his own body than he did? It didn't make sense. If his waste organ was capable of this, then why had it never happe—but Lykrosis once again could not think past the sensation of the creature squeezing him, a low growl escaping him unbidden.

And it didn't stop there. The creature stroked him next, slowly, up and down and his body flushed even hotter. The desire within him surged until it was all-encompassing, his mind stuttering to a halt as if it could barely function with the creature touching him like that. It just felt so… _good_.

The claw stroked upward again, but this time it moved to the end and one of the digits swept across the rounded tip. Lykrosis could not help the involuntary buck in his hips or the hiss that was pulled from him as a torrent of pleasure swept through his body. _Yessss._

The digit rubbed across the tip again, eliciting another low hiss from him and a slight jerk of the hips. In this state, his waste organ was so sensitive, each and every receptor along its length was picking up on the heat and friction that resulted from the creature's touch.

The claw's movement changed, stroking along his shaft again from base to tip, but with a squeeze and twist of the wrist. At the end, a digit swept across the tip and then the claw moved back down toward the base releasing its grip to return to its original position. The movement was calculated and precise. It was designed to please the entirety of his length, with particular attention paid to the tip, which he had quickly come to realize was the most sensitive part of the shaft.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, gradually being drowned out by the ever-growing pleasant haze that had settled over him, he knew this was wrong. All of this was wrong. From the first time he encountered the creature, he should have destroyed it. He should have destroyed it, laid waste to its strange form, stripped the remains of any value, and presented them to the captain. But more so, after his failure to do that, he should never have pursued it, never have let it entice him into this situation. Even though it had forced it upon him, still he had the audacity to remain seated against the ground as though he were of high rank.

All of this was wrong and all of this he knew, but with that l'nat claw moving tirelessly, that single, fluid motion rubbing against receptors that had never been stimulated before, all he could think was that he'd never felt anything so good in his life.

For some unknown reason the creature chose that moment to let up, both claws pulling back, and instantly, Lykrosis regretted the loss. The regret was short-lived, however, quickly replaced by apprehension and wariness as the creature was already moving again. He had enjoyed the rubbing, yes, but that did not mean he understood its intentions any more than he did before.

The claws returned to his chestplate, but with a much firmer grasp than before, which the creature used to lift its lower body up and closer to his own groin. When it hovered directly over his groin, it paused, waiting, and it stared at him with an expression he didn't recognize.

Lykrosis stared right back knowing what was coming next, or at least, he thought he had understood.

It lowered itself down and Lykrosis let out an intense growl as his waste organ contacted the creature's body, pushed through a slight resistance, and then the tip was encased in what he could only describe as tight, wet heat. The growl morphed until the tail end was nothing but a long, low trill of unadulterated pleasure.

 _What—_ but he couldn't even think to form the sentence as it kept lowering itself. The creature's body was tight, so tight and wet around his shaft. A pressure started to build within his groin, slow and steady as if it was synched with the descent of the creature's hips. And then there was the heat; it was like nothing he had ever felt. It poured into him from their joining, radiated from the creature's claws where they had remained on his chest armor and it all swept through him as a scorching burn.

Finally, he was fully seated inside of it and he welcomed the slight pause in its movements to try and regain himself. It didn't last more than a single moment though, the pressure was still building regardless of the stillness and when the creature began lifting its hips sluggishly, the overwhelming pleasure hit him again even stronger than before almost as if it had become two-fold. Another growl rumbled out from low in his throat while his claws raked deep rivulets into the dirt as he tried to ground himself against these sensations.

The contrasting feeling of cool air lapping against the lower portion of his shaft and the warm, tight flesh smoothing back up kept his entire body on edge. It was thoroughly over-heated, his intake coming in shallow, quick pants, and his waste organ was now so sensitive and the pressure so intense, that the pleasure had become excruciating. He wanted more and less and just—something.

At the height of the movement, Lykrosis didn't think he could take anymore. It felt like his shaft was going to break, like his whole body was going to break. When the hips shifted once more, just a touch to denote their intention to descend again, the pressure was finally released. It rolled through him like a wave, stemming from his groin and moving outward to encompass his whole body. His eyes slammed shut of their own accord, his whole form shuddering against his will, and Lykrosis could do nothing other than growl and trill his ecstasy into the open air.

When it was finally over, the haze began to clear from his mind and he felt… sated. At least he would have if he hadn't heard the unmistakable sound of laughter. His eyes snapped open to find the nuur'az shaking almost violently from its own mirth. He did not understand what had caused the reaction and of course, the little machine's next statement was of no help.

"Of all the creature's you've done it with, he's 'The One' as you so eloquently put it? That was over faster than a titan's Fist of Havoc," and the laughter intensified.

The creature, who had turned toward the nuur'az while it spoke, faced him again with a slightly different expression on its face.

It shifted then in an attempt to rise and Lykrosis couldn't help himself, his upper claws shot to its hips, grasping tightly and holding it in place as he growled out, "Again."

The nuur'az laughter cut off abruptly, its separate mechanical parts pulling in tight as if it was surprised.

Lykrosis was surprised himself when he realized that not only had he just willingly touched the creature, but he had given it a command as well. He trilled in further surprise when the nuur'az addressed him directly.

"She says you are not ready."

Some of the words were garbled because they required mandibles to properly pronounce and other words he was unfamiliar with, but the little machine spoke what was clearly E'lik, his native tongue. Lykrosis recovered quickly, however, as the realization of what the little machine had said hit him and he threatened, "Do not dictate to me, Nuur'az."

"She means physically you are not ready. Release her and you will see."

Lykrosis did not understand what this meant that he was not physically ready, but he did release his hold. When the creature rose from his lap, he noticed that his waste organ was shiny and slick but no longer hard. He could only assume that it must be in the other state to perform the display, but why was it not 'ready' as they had said?

His eyes fixated on the creature as it moved away from him and returned to the pools to presumably clean itself. That was, until he found much more interest in the nuur'az when it spoke again.

"She says you may ask your questions now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?  
> *Worrying like a crazy person about reader’s thoughts*
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur-guardian light  
> Nuur’az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> Sdee’al-Hive Knight  
> E’lik-the Fallen language {I’m just making this shit up as I go. [But there is a reason I chose not to call the actual language Eliksni. (But we’ll get to that later. ;)]}


	13. The Human and the Exo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies! Another chapter so soon? I know, what?! Don’t get too excited, it’s just a quick bridging chapter with some needed elements to further the plot and set up events later on. Do get excited in the fact that I am going to try, no promises, to keep churning the chapters out at about this pace, which is somewhere between 1-2 weeks I believe.
> 
> Anyways, thank you to all who have read and continue to read. Fan response has been wonderful and you guys are the awesomest. (That’s not even a word and it still applies!)  
> 

The Tower’s many trees were finally starting to bloom with the onset of what passed for Spring in this colder region, and with those enticing colors unfolding, the various insects that thrived on their pollen swarmed. A gentle breeze blew through their ranks and into the open office window to tickle the tactile sensors of his outermost nanite layer. His scent receptors were picking up 48 different chemical compounds but the composition was registering as pleasant overall.

Cayde-6 sat comfortably across from the human hunter. Andal Brask was a great man and a better mentor, but he was also a good friend, which meant the exo rarely worried when he was summoned for discipline. To be honest, he had been expecting this meeting since the incident with his fireteam in the Forgotten Shore and was only surprised that he hadn’t been called in from the field sooner.

Andal was average height for a human, or at least compared to what Cayde-6 had seen, and just as lithe and fit as any hunter. Lank, jet black hair framed sharp, masculine features, soft, blue eyes, and pale, white skin, which he had been informed by many females was both uncommon coloring for humans and, to his amusement, extremely attractive. What made him different though was the fact that for a hunter, you’d have expected him to be… haughtier. The Hunter Vanguard had his moments and could jest with the best of them, Cayde-6 would know, but for the most part, he was rather composed.

That’s probably why they got along so well. Even now, his friend didn’t look all that angry, rather a touch of disappointment as he poured himself a drink and finally looked up at the exo. “I’ve read the report,” he said between sips from the frosty glass.

“What report?”

“Cayde,” chided Andal as the hand not currently occupied rose and gave a little wave of the report in question.

From his position on the other side of the Hunter Vanguard’s desk, Cayde-6 could see Zavala’s neatly printed handwriting on the front cover, ‘Fallen Reconnaissance’. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why the Titan still wrote things down when he could just have his ghost transcribe it all directly to a datapad. “Ah, that report. Any chance I can convince you that that report is misleading?” said Cayde-6 with a too innocent look.

“Sure. Let’s have a look where this ambiguous report may be misleading, shall we?” Andal scanned the report muttering as though to himself but it was clearly for Cayde-6’s benefit. “Fallen departed from normal behavior… Rash decision making… Disobeyed orders to stand down and return… Ah yes, here we go and I quote, ‘Cayde-6’s reckless disregard for safety and clear disobedience of direct orders distracted his fireteam from the imminent surprise attack of an unknown enemy. In addition, his distant position left him unable to aid his fireteam, and should they have been further attacked, loss of life was estimated to be at 64.3%.’”

“Ah, come on. Zavala’s exaggerating; it was 42.0% at the most.”

Even though Andal wanted to be stern with him, he saw the flicker of a grin before the Vanguard spoke, “That would be the part you focus on.” His face sobered rather quickly however and he continued on in a more serious tone, “Cayde, you are one of the best hunters I have had a chance to work with and a good friend, but there are still many things you need to learn and one of those is the importance of a fireteam. You can’t always do it alone despite the fact that we hunters most often prefer it that way.”

The demeanor of his friend had changed so much during that brief speech that Cayde-6 was both attentive and wondering at the deeper meaning of his words. Andal wasn’t all that secretive, but there were things the exo didn’t know both about his past and the current happenings of the Tower, which the human was privy to being the Hunter Vanguard. In this moment though, he knew his friend well enough to know that something was bothering him.

Andal had looked away toward the tail end of his words, fixing his gaze on the open window and the fading light that lay beyond. The exo had been amongst the humans long enough to know that the look was thoughtful, but also somber. He felt… concerned. Cayde-6 meant to speak up, but Andal turned back to him with a false smile on his face meant to hide his true emotions and spoke before he had the chance, “As for your punishment, I believe I made a mistake in pushing that patrol on you. It wasn’t the right fit and I see that now, so I’ve come up with something that will better teach that which I want you to learn.”

The moment was lost and the exo would not drag it back with his friend trying so hard to leave it behind. He spoke up with playful sarcasm coloring his words, “Oh no, here we go.” Quiet laughter came from the other side of the desk and Cayde-6 grinned in response.

“Don’t sound so concerned; I’m actually quite certain you will enjoy this assignment. I am sending you out into the wilds to roam free and all by your lonesome.”

“Uh-huh. What’s the catch?”

“No catch. I’ve already sent all the details to your ghost.” At those words, both of their ghosts materialized and floated calmly in place next to their respective guardians’ heads.

“You’re going to love this, Cayde,” said his ghost in an almost excited voice.

“So you three have been plotting against me, huh?”

“Something like that. Anyways, you’ll leave in two days’ time, so enjoy yourself until then and I advise you stay in the Tower,” and the inflection in his friend’s voice peeked his curiosity. “Remind yourself of everything you love about it since you will be far away and for quite some time,” he said rather cryptically, but also hinting at something.

The words sunk in slowly and Cayde-6 sat up a little straighter. “Wait. Is this… The Dare?” There was a gleam in the Hunter Vanguard’s eyes that told him that Andal was enjoying this now. Unfortunately, he could see the amusement, but not the truth.

“You are free to speculate, Cayde. As I said, your ghost has all the details, but it’s been instructed not to give them to you until a certain point in time has been reached, so don’t bother trying to get them out of it yet. When you do, make of it what you will. Now,” said the Vanguard as he stood up, “off you go. You have much to think about and even more to plan for.”

Standing up himself, Cayde-6 was more silent than he had ever been. True he was excited about the possibility of The Vanguard Dare and he always loved a good bet, but there was still an uneasy feeling within that stemmed from his friend’s prior demeanor. Something felt… off.

They walked to the office door together beyond which lay the Tower’s many levels, which he was supposed to explore one last time before his mission. Andal clapped him on the shoulder right before he was set to depart and Cayde-6 stopped to look at him. “I will miss you while you are gone, my friend, but I think you’ll enjoy yourself. I would ask that while you are out there, you remember all that I said here and think upon it many times.”

“Trying to get me to play by the rules it seems,” he said shaking off the unease at the prospect of The Vanguard Dare, which he was now almost certain this was.

Andal tried for innocent, and in Cayde-6’s opinion completely failed, as he replied, “Now would I do that?”

“Yeah, you would.” With those parting words and the sound of Andal’s laughter, he left the office. As the door closed behind him, he asked his ghost, “Any chance I can convince you to give me some details early?”

Before his ghost could even respond, he heard “Cayde,” from behind the door in that same chiding voice. This time, he laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry, we’ll get back to our curious vandal and our strange femme next chapter. Hope you still enjoyed this one. On a side note, are you guys curious about “The Vanguard Dare”? Pfft, me too. Lol. I’ve got an idea in mind, but I have no idea truly. Part of me feels like Bungie doesn’t even know. They’ve probably got a bunch a guys sitting in a room working franticly on creating this awesome, dangerous, masterful dare that will live up to the expectations of the players when they finally reveal just wtf it is. What do you guys think?


	14. Pronouns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys, I’m back! Did you miss me? :P I know it took way too long to update; I was super busy and I’m sorry for that. However, I’m going to try to get the chapters out faster. I know I’ve said that before, so go ahead and don’t believe me until you see it. Here’s the reason I think this time will be different: (1) I used to put out 2500 word chapters a day, 7500 word chapters a week and now I can’t get 1500 words out in a month? It’s ridiculous and I’m going to try my hardest to rectify. (2) By now you have probably all seen the announcement for Rise of Iron. Yay for more Destiny and yay for more Fallen lore! The thing is, more lore means less leeway to play with the storyline and I’ve already got it all figured out in my head. If my headcanons are out there before I know different I’m cool with it, if canon gets out there and it conflicts with what I want to write, then I will feel compelled to change things and follow canon. It’s just the way I am, so to not have that problem, I’m going to try to get much further along in the story before RoI releases. Feel free to pester me, it might just get chapters out faster. Anyways, make sure to read the AN at the end of the chapter as well; there’s stuff I want to mention but this note is already too long!

That had gone notably better than the ghost had expected; granted, its expectations hadn’t been that high. Still, there had been a few tense moments, especially when the vandal had drawn its shock blade, but it had expected much more than just threatening posture. The cautious approach and distant interaction over the past weeks had definitely helped, which it was thankful for because in her excitement she had rushed it. She had moved too quickly from simply touching to climbing into his lap, and that could have resulted in far worse than some irritated flesh.

The ghost was still trying to piece together why she was so excited. She had alluded to the fact that this vandal was special somehow, that this was not the same situation as the other creatures she had sought out. How she had determined that, it had no idea. It could only hope that whatever she was trying to accomplish by sleeping with these creatures would soon be resolved and then… well to be honest, it didn’t know what they would do after that.

Since they had met, they had travelled to so many different places and the ghost had seen so many more things than it ever could have if it had paired with another guardian. It had learned all that it could and it had compiled all that it could, so that in the future… and from there it didn’t really know. Gathering data had always been instinctual for it, even now that it did not have a guardian partner, but what should it do with all of this information?

Ideally, it would probably give it to the vanguard to help aid them in at least understanding their enemies’ capabilities and intelligence. The cryptarchs would surely find it fascinating as well; he doubted any records currently existed on the mating habits of cabal legionaries.

It would have to think upon it more in the future, but the situation at hand required its attention. The vandal had returned to a crouch, staring after the female that had left its lap, and failed to move again even after the ghost had addressed it. Finally, though, its head turned away from her, and stared at it instead. If the ghost didn’t know any better, it would have said it, and possibly its address, was being keenly evaluated.

“What means this, ‘You may ask your questions now?” The vandal’s speech was quiet but direct, a low, gravelly sound somewhere between a hiss and a growl. The ghost made note of the differences between the Fallen spoken words and its own robotic pronunciation, particularly the mandibular clicks that were not apparent in the written text it had used to learn the language. _Are they necessary for the words to be understood or are they just an inconsequential result of having the mandibles click together during speech,_ it though to itself, insatiably curious and secretly a bit excited to actually be speaking to one of the Fallen.

“She knows that you are curious about both this situation and about her, so she is prepared to answer any questions you would like to ask.” The female, done with her bathing, had clothed herself again and then moved to recline atop one of the larger rocks in the area. Her body was poised although her expression was mostly empty as she looked from one to the other, waiting.

“What do you want?” It said, turning back to the female.

 _Again,_ she sent with an unnecessary and unwanted visual reminder of what they had both just finished doing.

“She wants you both to return to this same place and do this again for as many times as you both want to.” Silence was not exactly the reaction it had been expecting; prolonged silence even more so. The vandal just stared at it with that same look as if evaluating the words, or perhaps it was a blank look. Interpreting facial expressions wasn’t exactly on the vanguard’s top ten list of important things to learn when it came to their enemies.

 _Although,_ the ghost thought, _maybe I’m saying things incorrectly._ From all of the Fallen originated data it had combed through in its life, it had learned that they did not view time linearly as humanity did; they tracked it through the occurrence of events and recalled it the same way. It was both more correct than the linear model and much more difficult to convey. The ghost couldn’t simply say ‘she wants to see you every day’ because the Fallen did not have a word for day and even if they did, right now the vandal had no concept of what a ‘day’ was.

“Why does it not speak?” it finally replied without addressing the ghost’s previous statement.

“To be honest with you, I’m not sure. **She** ,” the ghost said with more emphasis in its annoyance, “has never…” but the vandal cut off the rest of its answer.

“It does not speak. You do not speak to it, so answers are your own, not its,” said the vandal with a tailing growl that might have indicated anger.

The little machine retorted with a hint of anger in its own voice as it was tired of the vandal’s rudeness. “She is not an it,” it bristled, all of its separate parts rattling as they pulled apart rapidly. “Show some respect!”

_Ghost._

The female was amused at its anger, but that single word was still a reprimand. “No,” it said turning to look at her while it spoke, “it is not accidental, he is being deliberately disrespectful. Fallen only refer to other creatures as ‘It’ when referring to species they see as beneath them.”

It may not have known her reasoning behind thinking this vandal was unique, but she was correct in the fact that they had never dealt with a creature this intelligent or capable of independent thinking. They would have to be more careful around him, particularly in what they said but also in anything that was implied. He would be studying every move they made. She needed to avoid offending him if at all possible, but also not allow him to disrespect her. Fallen, like humans, put great emphasis on rank and status, and to them, nothing was worse than being weak. Since she had made her decision to interact with the Fallen, it had tried to convey the importance of all of this to the female, and perhaps she had been listening because she replied with, _Emphasis understood._

When the ghost finally turned back toward the vandal, his gaze was piercing and he did not speak again for so long that it did start to wonder if it should regret the words. _What if I just messed this up for her?_ it thought, the worry setting in the longer the silence persisted. Unconsciously, the ghost floated backwards a bit to be nearer the female trying to detect any changes in her mood, but there was nothing to feel. She was not worried and that helped it calm itself, if only minutely.

“You say many unnecessary words when speaking,” the vandal finally said in a tone, that it couldn’t be certain of, but the ghost could swear was also reprimanding.

 _I can’t believe I just got rebuked by a Fallen for talking too much._ The ghost felt almost indignant by the absurdity of that notion and it had completely avoided the previous topic! The female, however, transmitted nothing but amusement at the situation.

“Great, now that we’re all done being funny…” it grumbled to itself in City Age English so the vandal could not understand. “She can understand you, she just doesn’t speak aloud. She sends me her answers through transmission,” it said returning to the conversation. It had really wanted to return to the vandal’s rudeness, but had decided to leave it alone for now. Besides, next time he addressed the female in conversation, it would know his answer.

“Your answer is acceptable.”

The ghost had figured it would have to wait for a while before receiving a response, but that was surprisingly quick. _Why do I feel like I just passed some sort of test?_ it thought to itself vowing to pay even more attention to the vandal’s speech. If it was not mistaken, the vandal had already known, or at least suspected, the answer to its own question, which meant it wasn’t just seeking confirmation but evaluating their responses.

“Why he seeks Fallen?”

The ghost was not familiar with this form of disrespect; using the incorrect gender pronoun was not something it had ever read about. It decided to let it slide for now and answer the question just in case it was some sort of slip. It probably didn’t speak to females that often. “She does not ‘seek Fallen’. Right now, she is only interested in you.”

“For what purpose?”

“Like I said before, she just wants to do this… a lot,” it added on at the end in English eliciting an amused smirk from the female.

“To what end he wants to do this?”

“She. She is a she, not a he,” it said holding back the exasperation. This vandal was trying its patience already. _I mean how dumb does he think I am, like I won’t notice him switching the pronoun from ‘it’ to ‘he’?_

“You speak in riddles, Nuur’az,” the vandal growled out.

Ghost sighed loudly not bothering to hide the irritation this time. “‘He’ is a pronoun. You use it when referring to someone who is male instead of saying their name, which I know you already know. ‘She’ is the correct pronoun for a female, but you are intentionally calling her a ‘he’ to show your superiority.”

“You assume much.”

“Which means I am right,” it said pointedly.

“No. Fallen do not have this ‘female’ that you speak nor do we say ‘she’. All are referred to by their designation or ‘he’.”

“Of course the Fall…”

 _Stop,_ the female interrupted with a forcefully spoken word and surge of unknown emotion.

“What?” it asked switching over to English for a conversation that was obviously meant to be private. “Of course the Fallen have females. I mean we know the population is heavily skewed toward males for whatever reason; no one is quite sure why. There are many theories. The cryptarchs have postulated that the male is… ah, I’m getting off topic. Anyways, we know they have females and so does he. He is playing dumb to gauge our responses. Have you noticed that he hasn’t divulged any information about the Fallen? Of course not and I wouldn’t expect him to, but that doesn’t mean we should hold back everything we know especially when it’s in our favor.”

 _Dangerous._ The warning came with a feeling that the ghost was incorrect, but about what it could not decipher. The feeling changed to a swirl of emotions with curiosity prominent among them and then her mind was lost to it in contemplation. The feelings cut off abruptly with, _later,_ being the only explanation it was going to get.

It knew better than to prompt her for information when she was lost so deeply in thought, so instead it focused its attention back on their guest. The vandal had taken in the exchange, it knew, and would try to puzzle it all out later, but for now he had just stayed in his crouch and stared. Or that’s what it had thought. The blades that previously lie against the path were now held loosely in each claw both downturned and inactive. Somehow, this situation had drastically changed and the ghost was a step behind; it did not know what was happening.

_Retreat._

“We must leave. She wants to do this again and speak with you more. Always when the sun is on this side of the sky, we will be here,” it told the vandal at her request although it thought it unwise to give that information away. They meant to depart immediately, but the vandal stood up in one swift movement and the ghost got the sense that it wanted to speak. Sure enough…

“You seek to deceive and confuse. Untruths and trickery are the words. I will not return,” and then he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you guys think? As always, let me know in the comments! Kudos are much appreciated as well. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Just to clarify, when Ghost is speaking to Lykrosis it is in E’lik, which is why I will continue to make a point of stating if he switches to English. In case anyone is asking themselves, then why does Lykrosis speak so strangely if he is speaking his own language; I shall tell you. He is an alien. No way do aliens have identical speech patterns, grammar, syntax, sentence structure, etc. as humans even in their own language. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves with aliens in all sorts of media and that includes fanfiction. I’m not asking for an entire new language, but at least try to remember you are writing about an alien and not a human with a funny name. (The frustration increases with the portrayal of personalities and mannerisms, but don’t even get me started on that.) 
> 
> So long story short, I adjusted his speech a bit. It follows what I know of the Fallen and based on what we see in the game; sentences are relatively short and direct, but vocabulary is robust. Now, realistically their speech would probably be so different we couldn’t understand a damn thing, but I’m not going to kill myself coming up with a funny way for him to talk. Just know that it will be a little different but as consistent as possible.


	15. Adamant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, what’s this? Another chapter, but that’s like two chapters in two weeks. Those were your exact thoughts, right? Lol, well relax because it’s just a filler chapter, but there are some key plot points becoming apparent here and I just like writing the ghost’s POV. It’s also an apology for taking so long to get the last chapter out. Anyways, enjoy!

As soon as her boots hit the rubber composite floors, the female was moving toward her favorite thinking spot, the large sofa near the posterior bulkhead of the ship. She collapsed onto it in a single fluid movement, drew her legs up beside her, and then stared unwavering at the small table in front of her. Well she wasn’t actually even seeing the table, her mind was too consumed in other processes at the moment. The ghost knew better than to try to converse with her now. It would have to wait while she got her thoughts in order and from the slightly furrowed brow and dead look in her eyes, that was going to be awhile.

It sighed internally intent on not disturbing her, although, she probably wouldn’t have noticed anyway. With nothing else to do at the moment, it floated toward the expansive dashboard for the ship’s computer to get some work done. The computer in question was a primitive AI, but powerful nonetheless and the internal transistors were perfectly tuned to its light streams giving it effortless control and override capabilities. The construction and coding were flawless, allowing the entirety of the ship’s operating functions and maintenance stats to be read and controlled from a single console. The only separate controls were concentrated at the front of the ship in a four-person cockpit, which allowed for manual piloting and use of the various gun decks.

The ship itself was of an ancient and unknown construction, but it was much larger and more well-equipped than the single occupant fighters guardians could acquire. It was a Stealth-class armored, heavy frigate and was truly meant for in-space warfare. Light and maneuverable, it was small enough to utilize a stealth drive but large enough to handle strategic combat and withstand substantial gunfire.

The true marvel of the ship was the signal refractor integrated into the outer shield layer. The refractor absorbed an incoming signal, copied it, and projected it back into space at the correct incident angle to create an uninterrupted wave as though the ship was not there. It made the frigate undetectable to any positioning systems and locating sensors the ghost knew of. Such technology in the hands of the Tower’s shipwrights could go a long way in enabling guardians to venture undetected practically anywhere.

The ghost sighed again knowing they were a long way off from that point.

In the two years that they had been together, the ghost had only ever inquired once about how she had acquired such a vessel. In reaction to the question her whole body had filled with a brimming anger and sadness the likes of which it had never felt. Abruptly cutting off, the emotions were just gone followed by a wave of confusion and then furious thought as if she had just forgot the answer and was trying to remember. Following that the explosion of anger and sadness returned and from there the cycle continued in an endless loop as though she couldn’t hold onto the explanation.

She had been in that state for so long that the ghost finally transported her from the ship to a planet’s surface in an attempt to jolt her recognition back into the present and just to make it stop. The reaction had been frightening, like some frame had broken and continued to perform the same action over and over in a vain attempt to achieve its intended goal. That was both the first time the ghost had truly understood that there was something horribly wrong with her and the beginning of its own mission to finally understand and maybe, just maybe, help her.

They had made much progress since then, but every once and awhile she had still exhibited that odd phenomenon like a thought or explanation was suddenly ripped away from her mind. It had long ago decided not to dwell on her issues though, and perhaps this insane need to sleep with other creatures was her own strange way of trying to heal whatever was broken.

Returning to its work, it finished uploading all of the information it had gathered that day into the ship’s computer and in turn downloaded relevant information the scanners had picked up. It had also taken to recording and decrypting the logs of Fallen chatter they were able to detect since her decision to interact with the species.

It periodically gave her a once-over while it worked just to make sure she was okay, but she never moved the entire time. It wasn’t unheard of for her but indicative that something was bothering her. After a total of two hours and forty-seven minutes had passed, the ghost decided a distraction was in order.

It floated over to her and materialized a silver goblet filled with her desired nutritional supplement. She never ate anything solid, which bothered the ghost immensely, but the disgusting looking black liquid contained all of the essential nutrients she needed to maintain a healthy physique and it hadn’t bothered to ask what the deal was. The goblet was high enough in the air that it clanked loudly when it hit the table and the liquid inside swirled causing the vessel to follow its movements. It was perilously close to tipping over when her hand shot out to grab it.

If the ghost could have smirked it would have. When she looked up at it, it said, “You haven’t blinked in almost three hours. Drink your goop and then you can go back to whatever thoughts are so intriguing.” Her eyes moved to the drink as though it were some foreign object and then suddenly… she was back. Her unique personality filled those bright blue irises and she gave it a smile with the thought, _finished._ “Really, so soon?” it said in light sarcasm. Her only response was a flash of humor.

“So are you going to tell me what all of that was about earlier with the vandal?”

_Dangerous._

“You know, normally I can get a sense of what you are trying to say, but this time I am completely lost. What is so dangerous?”

_Unknowledgeable._

“You are saying the vandal is unknowledgeable, but about what?”

_Everything._

The ghost wasn’t quite sure what to make of that, but it figured this might be a good time to be more direct with her. “Okay, hold on; let’s start at the beginning. Have you decided not to sleep with the Fallen?” There was a definite rejection of that idea in her mind. “Okay, but something has changed to make you warier of your interactions with him?” The rejection turned to easy agreement and then it got the full story.

Its own warning to her of the Fallen’s intelligence became prominent in its mind and then the feeling that their hierarchy would complicate things. She truly believed that he did not know what a female was or for that matter what sex was given the fact that it had been his first time. “First time?! You mean that…” but she cut through its speech with more thoughts; they weren’t frantic, she never panicked, but hurried nonetheless. She had never done such a thing before but it almost felt like she wanted the ghost to know of everything in that moment in case she forgot something.

They knew that Fallen females existed, so if he was completely ignorant to such a topic, then it was because he was never told, or more correctly, because the information was actively being hidden from him. It was speculation of course, but her mind made connections in ways it did not understand and more often than not, her theories were correct. If this were all true, then now it could understand her caution. Telling a lower ranking Fallen such information could be very dangerous indeed if the higher ranks did not wish it spread.

“But why would they keep the existence of females a secret from their own kind? It hardly seems like pivotal knowledge.”

_Find out._

“A simple enough answer, so what’s the plan?”

_Return._

“To the hollow? Your vandal seemed adamant about the fact that he would not return.” It got the sense that she was not worried about that, in fact, she seemed pretty adamant herself that he would seek her out again. “You’re just so deliciously tempting, eh?”

She gave it an amused look, and then promptly agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I love to hear your thoughts. Anybody got any theories? Do you think she is correct and if so, why would the Fallen hide that information?


	16. Challenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, no one wanted to share their theories? :(
> 
> Anyways, a big thank you to all of the readers as you are what motivates this brain to make the magic happen. Have a quick chapter here that helps move the plot along and as always, let me know what you think.

Upon his return to the home caves, Lykrosis was given an immediate order from Kreesis to report to the skiff holding. The ship required maintenance and two of the vandals that normally performed such repairs had been killed by nuur’khu in their latest scavenging party. He only had an intermediate knowledge of the skiff’s anatomy and functions, but it would be simple enough to learn that which he did not know whilst he worked.

It did not escape his notice, however, that while their dreg numbers had been increasing as of late, the crew’s number of vandals was dwindling. Lykrosis did not understand why the servitor had not promoted a few reaver dregs to bolster their loses as surely there were a few worth the ether. It was not his place to question the servitor though, so he and the other vandals would continue to perform additional tasks as long as necessary.

In addition, the mostly methodical repairs allowed him time to think about all that had transpired during his interaction with the creature. Whatever they had done, his body had undoubtedly enjoyed it, but he didn’t know what to think for he was once again asking himself, _what is the purpose of this display?_ Moreover, why did the creature want to continue performing the display, particularly with Fallen? No, with him specifically, as the nuur’az had made sure to correct him.

The questions he had asked were not designed to gain information about its intentions because he was certain that the answers would not be the truth. Instead he had turned the conversation into a way to gauge the creature’s, or rather the nuur’az, responses and behavior. It had been advantageous on his part for he had learned much and he was now even warier than previously.

The nuur’az had much more detailed knowledge of Fallen social dynamics than he would have originally thought. He couldn’t be certain but he did not believe it was widespread, more likely that this nuur’az specifically had been studying the Fallen. It would not be difficult for the creature and its machine to survey Fallen patrols unnoticed and study the interactions that took place.

The thought did not please him; the more that they learned, the more dangerous they became.

Although, perhaps it was only so that they may interact with him in a successful manner. They had tried to mimic Fallen behavior in its simplest form, that he was certain of, and it could have been so that he would respond in turn instead of treating them like enemies, which they rightfully deserved.

The nuur’az had noticed his disrespectful address almost immediately and had quickly made him aware of that fact, which any vandal with a modicum of self-respect would have done. For Fallen, further insult would have been met with a challenge and escalated to a brutal, physical display of dominance, so Lykrosis had decided not to continue and yet the nuur’az had accused him anyways. The little machine had been arrogant and overly presumptuous, which Lykrosis would have immediately rebuked harshly in another Fallen to ‘show his superiority’ as the nuur’az had stated. It either did not know the consequences of such behavior, or more likely, did not fear them with the creature protecting it.

After that, the conversation had been much less clear to him as he did not know of this ‘female’ that it spoke of. Either the nuur’az knowledge of Eli’k was not as good as it thought, which Lykrosis did not doubt, or it was deliberately trying to mislead him. _Also believable._ He could not know unless they spoke again and that was not something he was willing to do.

Until they had conversed, Lykrosis had almost believed the pair’s intentions were not hostile, but now he was uncertain and for that reason he had decided not to return. It would not do him nor his crew any good to let the creature lull him into a state of complacency. In fact, now the most logical action for him to take would be to report the occurrence to Kreesis, who would in turn inform the captain.

Given that the reaver would be out on patrol at that moment, Lykrosis decided to head to the bathing area instead. Repairing one of the displacement drives had forced him into a tight space, which required him to remove all of his outer armor. Build-up from the drive had been deposited onto his flesh and bio-suit as he had worked leaving an unpleasant odor in his wake as well as a slight burning through his claws where the deposits were heaviest.

He stopped by his room momentarily to grab a small tube of orange liquid. It was a highly acidic solvent that he used to clean both his body and armor when necessary, and the deposits from the displacement drive were going to require it. Fallen were rarely allowed to claim personal items as everything they scavenged belonged to the crew, but Kreesis had decreed it acceptable after some bargaining. He would be allowed to keep the raw materials he had gathered and create the solvent, and in turn split the yield evenly with the reaver. It had been a profitable agreement but ultimately it meant that he had a very limited supply of the liquid.

There were two other stealth vandals in the farthest corner of the bathing area when he arrived, but otherwise it was vacant. He set his armor down next to the edge of the pool nearest the entrance and began to clean the individual pieces. His outer armor and cloth was lightly soiled and only needed a quick scrub down with the water. Afterwards he stripped his bio-suit for cleaning, which would require more work as he should have used the solvent to help dissolve the deposits, but he had to ration it. His flesh was in much more need of it right now.

He left the pieces to dry at the base of the wall nearest him when he was finished. Theft from other Fallen within the crew was punishable by death, so he did not worry about leaving it unguarded. Lykrosis covered himself in the orange liquid and slid into the pool intent on bathing quickly and returning to his room so that he may think upon the discussion he needed to have with Kreesis. He had not yet started scrubbing himself when a snarl came from behind him accompanied by a comment about an ‘offensive scent’.

Lykrosis turned to see two reavers that he disliked standing by the entrance to the bathing area. The two had risen to reaver rank at the same time as Kreesis, and for that reason, saw his failure to rise as weakness. They enjoyed bringing their authority to bear over him whenever possible, which fortuitously was not that often as they were not stealth class. “It comes from the vandal useless at dispatching nuur’khu.”

Normally, he would quietly seethe instead of retorting as the reavers were of higher rank than him, but he did not have the patience in that moment. Lykrosis pulled himself out of the pool in one fluid motion and let out an aggressive trill. “Your insults bore me,” he growled out and issued a challenge with his lower right arm. Both reavers returned his aggressive stance and the one on the left immediately began to flank him.

It had been unwise to issue a challenge to two opponents simultaneously especially when they were both still armored while he was stripped to the flesh. Still, the reavers were more competent with wire rifles than clawed combat, and they also lacked the physical prowess he boasted as a stealth vandal. _I will show them the mistake they have made._ Before it was over, he intended to inflict as much pain and damage as he could short of killing them both.

Lykrosis was in the middle of planning his strategy when he heard, “ **Enough!** ” Kreesis stood behind the reaver directly in front of him with his mandibles clicking in annoyance. “Lykrosis,” he said in an unspoken order to follow and then turned to leave in a dismissal of the situation. Lykrosis quickly grabbed his bio-suit and followed him out while the other reavers continued to splay their mandibles at him.

He knew something required immediate attention when Kreesis told him to armor himself expeditiously. Once his armor and weapons were in place, they both moved toward the entrance of the home caves quickly while the stealth reaver apprised him of the situation. “During patrol, three nuur’khu spotted, moving in this direction. Scouts note a continued presence.” Scouts were stealth vandals placed high up in the cliffs surrounding the home caves, whose only directive was to monitor nuur’khu activity without being seen. “Stealth vandals will take the initial assault. Lead nuur’khu away from home caves.”

As they reached the entrance, Lykrosis saw the other stealth vandals who had been tasked as well. They all waited by the tunnel for orders to advance and he joined their ranks. His upper claws unsheathed his shock blades and activated their nuur with a crackle of energy. His lifeblood still pumped rapidly with the aggression stemming from the intended fight with the reavers. Hunting pheromones began to permeate the air, riling him up even more than he already was, their core function to return him to his most basic, vicious nature.

His last well-preserved thought before his instincts took over was that he would never again fail to destroy a nuur’khu and live to bear the shame of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per my self-imposed schedule of a minimum of one chapter per week, I should have released a chapter last week and did not, which I apologize for. My computer literally fritzed out and I had to reinstall my OS, which wiped out all my files. Now luckily I’m paranoid, anal, and OCD, so I had back-ups, on back-ups, on back-ups of everything, but it takes time to get everything restored properly.
> 
> Consequences of this are: 1. I literally wrote this entire chapter yesterday and am now publishing. If you guys do not think it is up to par with what you usually read from me, please yell at me and I will fix it, promise. I’ve gone through it, just not as thoroughly as I probably should have. 2. In better news, I got writing fever and have the next chapter almost completely done as well, so look for it in the next day or so.
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Nuur'khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> Nuur'az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> Nuur-guardian light


	17. Solemnity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovelies! Sorry I couldn’t post yesterday like I intended, but I’m watching my nephew for the week and he is a handful on the best of days. Needless to say I don’t have a lot of time to sit at my computer and write. Nonetheless, have another chapter and maybe, just maybe, I’ll post again later in the week.
> 
> This chapter is a bit of a question mark along the way but it’s got a lot tiny plot arcs and themes popping up, so enjoy!

“You know? This could turn into a trap. You told him you would be here every day,” the ghost said, not liking this situation one bit. To return to this location again after letting a hostile enemy know you would be there did not seem like the most intelligent course of action no matter the assurances she gave, which were undoubtedly in an effort to placate it.

In response it received a lighthearted admonishment about using the word ‘day’ when it was the one who said that the Fallen didn’t have a concept for a day. “You know what I mean,” it retorted. “He said he would not return. What if he was just trying to lull you into a false sense of security and then he shows up with reinforcements?”

To that it got a rather playful response about how she would ‘do them all’. The ghost wanted to be serious but it couldn’t help but be dangerously close to laughing as it said, “You’re impossible, you know that?” Honestly, it was enjoying the female’s ‘banter’ as it had not felt her so happy in all the time they had been together. It was almost reassuring. “I am serious though. I think this is dangerous.”

The look she gave it clearly indicated that she thought it was worrying too much.

Truthfully, the ghost may have been overly cautious. The female may not have been a guardian, but she could definitely handle herself. She didn’t participate in regular combat nor did she carry a weapon, in fact it had never seen her wield one. However, not every species she had tried to mate with had been so keen to return her interest as the Hive or the Fallen, and that had led to some very brutal fights. In the end, it wasn’t physical prowess or weapon handling that she relied on; it was an effortless and overwhelming use of light, particularly the void.

She communed with the light in a way it had never felt, not from a guardian and not even from a ghost. A guardian learned to control the light with training and focus; they called it forth and harnessed it for their own purpose. It was both effective and impressive to be sure, but it was different with her, and the ghost could only postulate that it was because the light was her own, not burrowed from the Traveler.

Her light was always present. It was like an untouched tap, a constant stream of pure energy that flowed through her as a roil of power. She did not focus or call it, she did not pull at it or wait for it to come. It was always there simmering below the surface and when she needed an outward manifestation, it flowed forth eagerly bending to her will. And yet, she did not control it. She allowed it to influence her just as much as she did it. With her, the light almost felt… alive.

Alive and purposeful. For so long the ghost had thought that finding her had been a way for it to escape its responsibilities to the Traveler and to humanity. It hadn’t wanted to shun its own purpose, but losing another guardian was more than it could bear. Now though, and maybe it had been subconsciously thinking about this for some time, it considered the possibility of her joining the ranks of the vanguard. _Would she even consider it?_ it wondered finally looking up at her face from where it had previously been staring off to her left.

Contemplating the female’s relationship with the light and the vanguard had taken the Ghost out of the current situation, but it all came flooding back when it noticed her quizzical expression, probably in relation to its uncharacteristic silence.

Her uniqueness aside, it had seen guardians it would have considered masters of their own light and still they had fallen. Their light had been suffocated under the weight of darkness, compressed and diffused into the nothingness. Siphoned and stolen until there was nothing left but a shell of what was once a guardian.

She, like so many others before her, could only take so much. She had no weapons and no armor; if the Fallen came now, in force, then it did not truly believe that she would survive.

It would fail again. So many, it had lost so many guardians. How could it even hope to…

“What?” it asked realizing that the female had said something to it multiple times.

_Stop._

The ghost was a bit… lost at the moment and decided to be honest about it. “I have to admit I have not been paying attention to whatever you have been trying to tell me. I was thinking about something.”

_Yes. Stop._

“Stop thinking?”

_Worrying._

The ghost flared up at that. Stop worrying! How was it supposed to do that when she kept putting herself in such danger all the time? For two years it had stood by while she had pursued creature after creature, lain with creature after creature, each of which could have torn her to pieces without thinking twice. It had been two years of one dangerous encounter after another with no end in sight. And why did she do this? For no apparent reason! That was one of the worst, no, one of the dumbest things she had ever said to it.

When its internal rant reached a peak it almost started shouting at her, but then it just sort of puttered out.

 _Perhaps… perhaps I’m being selfish._ She was always so optimistic about everything, it was easy for it to forget how glaringly fucked up she really was. Fucked up and still she worried just as much about it as she did herself, maybe even more so.

Now, when she was actually happy, it had gone through an internal pity party, so she was once again focused on it instead of her own happiness.

_Abundant opportunities._

“What?” it said missing the conversation point again.

 _Abundant opportunities,_ she repeated with an image of the Fallen vandal facing her with its shock blades up and its body in an offensive stance.

That was true at least; the vandal had had many opportunities to attack and yet it had always left her be. “Actually, in the middle of you banging the knight might have been quite hilarious… if not for the danger of course,” said the ghost crudely but without the humorous tone that should have accompanied the statement. However, the small smile that had barely been playing along her upper lip turned into a beam with her own mirth.

Since it knew she wasn’t going to listen to its advice anyways, the ghost decided to leave the conversation alone after that. It was still positive this was a bad idea, but the best thing it could do right now was to remain vigilant in case they did get a lot of unwanted visitors. Other than that, they would just have to wait and see what happened.

* * *

Days, that is what happened.

At first, her mood had remained upbeat like she was not worried about his absence. Perhaps she had figured it would take a few days for his resolve to break or there was also the possibility that he had not been able to leave his crew unnoticed, which he had to have been doing previously. If not, then they **all** would have had a lot more trouble to deal with. His crew would have punished him severely for not reporting the information immediately, if they had even left him alive, and they would have come to finish her off just as quickly.

After the third day, the ghost had begun to fear that this had been the case. It didn’t help that it had felt her own resolve falter for just a second, a single thread of doubt worming its way into her mind before being squashed. Just long enough to increase its anxiety, but it needn’t have worried; nothing happened in the days that followed.

Nothing other than the fact that the more days that had gone by, the more her happy attitude had receded.

On the seventh day, they had found evidence that guardians had been in the area and on the eighth day, they had seen them. The fireteam had consisted of two warlocks and a titan, and the tracks littered about the area suggested they had been there for quite a few days. They both had known it was not a good sign and the ghost urged her on, intent not to linger. In the end, her wish to remain hidden from the vanguard’s notice had won out over her reluctance to leave the area when there was still a chance he would show up, however small.

When the eleventh day had arrived, the female’s mood had fallen to a barely perceptible hum with the discovery of an aging battle sight. Fallen corpses had littered the area, stripped of everything worth taking but their helms, when they weren’t decapitated of course. She had walked among the corpses, her hands hovering close to their bodies but never touching. Arc light had flashed periodically and the draw on its own light had been unmistakable, she had been feeling the dead.

The ghost had felt almost helpless as it watched her wade through the wreckage of what was once Fallen dregs and vandals. When she had passed over the body of a butchered vandal many times, it had thought the worst, but a flicker of relief from her denied it.

After they had left the scene, the ghost checked the ship’s logs hoping that its search had not been in vain. Ever since they had discovered the guardians, the ghost had been searching the vanguard’s radio signals and the private communication sub-frequency ghosts emitted, which allowed them to speak with each other unnoticed. They had gotten lucky, picking up an encrypted transmission amongst the fireteam members about their patrols of the area.

The fireteam had been tasked with evaluating the Fallen’s movements in the area, but had recently turned to searching for evidence of an unknown enemy. The details of the ‘enemy’ it recognized from the day the female had used her light on the guardians to save her vandal.

They were now looking for her and she had used that knowledge to her advantage. The female had left them all the evidence they wished to find, tracks, scents, marks of light usage, and she had led them right out of the area with it, out of the Forgotten Shore entirely.

A few days later and with the guardians focus now on the Steppes, they had returned to the pools and the Fallen had returned to their patrols. Again her mood had lightened, hope and optimism refusing to allow her to believe what the ghost had already accepted.

That was, until more days passed.

They had been coming back to the pools for more than two weeks and still the vandal had not returned. Her hopeful mood had declined just as her happy demeanor before it and today, it could no longer be found. She stood next to the pools staring off into the distance where one of her partners would normally have arrived by now. She stayed that way as the day wore on and even as night started to fall. She had never waited so long before almost as if this day was marking some sort of finality for her.

When the sun had dipped fully below the horizon and only the barest of rays were still lighting up the sky, she turned toward it. Not only was she no longer happy, but her face showed an emotion she had never before allowed it to see. Oh, it had felt it from her a few times, but she had always made sure to hide it from her features as though that would make it worry about her less.

The change in her mental state was conclusive to it; she had finally started to accept the possibility of a third or even more disheartening fourth option: either he wasn’t coming back or… he couldn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, the feels! I hope you guys enjoyed this and as always, comments are much appreciated.
> 
> This chapter also probably wasn’t as well planned and edited as usual, but i think it turned out pretty good. If not, let me know.


	18. Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys. Got another chapter for you and the next is almost finished as well. I know, I’m on a roll. Anyways, this chapter is mostly a bridging chapter, but it does serve a few specific purposes so I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-some angst.

The combat had been vicious but the battle quick as the main directive had been to lead the nuur’khu away from the homes caves. In this they had been successful, leading the troublesome creatures through the narrow cliffs toward the area filled with the remains of strange ships from this planet’s past. There they had dispersed in many directions forcing the nuur’khu to split up.

Vandals had been trained thoroughly in leaving fake scent trails, which confused their enemies and threw off their ability to track. Once the nuur’khu had been hindered by the false scents, they had taken secrete paths back to the home caves. Altogether it had been successful but the crew had lost many stealth vandals, which had not boded well for them given the continued nuur’khu presence afterwards.

The situation had changed rapidly though as scouts had reported the nuur’khu leaving the area. Kreesis had informed him that the scouts had stated the creatures seemed to be pursuing other targets, but Captain Tyriks wanted truth. Lykrosis normal patrol was changed to the nuur’khu last known location in an effort to identify whether they had truly left the area or if they were trying to deceive.

That order brought him to this moment where he stood staring at the slightly disturbed soil and feeling perplexed. _This is illogical_ , Lykrosis thought to himself with a slight arm flick as he surveyed the blatantly obvious tracks again. Several sets of the conspicuous claw prints ran from the area surrounding the home caves in the direction of the dr’yaa. They followed the bends and curves of the ravaged cliffs for many k’ntr and continued out of the Forgotten Shore where he was not permitted to follow. At first, Lykrosis had thought that they belonged to a native creature of some sort but one quick taste of the air lit up his receptors and recognition stirred within his abdomen at the creature’s overwhelming scent.

Until now, he had not ventured outside of the home caves to know how the pair had taken his rejection. Would they continue to follow him, would they try to retaliate, or would they simply find some other to pester? He hadn’t bothered to wonder; since his decision to tell Kreesis of their existence, Lykrosis had given them no more thought because their destruction would then be inevitable, but he found this development to be… strange.

The ‘female’, as the nuur’az wanted it to be called, was more than capable of moving about the area without leaving a trace. Why then would it leave tracks covered in its scent for any other to follow effortlessly? It wouldn’t, at least not without purpose and the only purpose for leaving such a trail was to be located, but for whom was it intended?

With the necessary information gathered, Lykrosis leisurely headed back toward the home caves to give his report. The immediate aftermath of the battle had left him with too many tasks to think about the pair let alone speak with Kreesis about them. Now though, he would be able to inform the reaver of their existence without suspicion of how he came about this information.

Along the way, he came upon a pocket of dense foliage serving as shelter to a few local fauna. A particularly aggressive, furred creature caught his attention where it lie in wait for its own prey. Lykrosis recognized it immediately as it was one of the few species on this planet that tasted particularly good. The lifeblood was dense and sweet, packed full of heavy nutrients that made his own muscles hum with energy. Its tough hide was also useful being highly durable and the pelt soft enough to sleep on comfortably. It was not difficult to kill just rare to find and he viewed it as the fortuitous prize it was. _I will have it._

Lykrosis activated his stealth as he dropped low and crawled forward, advancing on the ignorant creature, stalking it in absolute silence. When he was close enough, he grabbed it swiftly by the back of the neck and crushed both spine and windpipe in one powerful squeeze silencing it before it could even begin to squeal. Its body went limp against the ground and he gathered it up immediately to continue on his way.

The medium-paced lope he adopted to accommodate the creature’s added weight slowed his arrival at the caves. The added moments caused him to once again ponder the female’s actions and the conclusion he finally arrived at for the intentional trail surprised him. The coincidence of the simultaneity of the nuur’khu presence and the tracks could not be misinterpreted, the creature had led them out of the area, had led them away from his crew.

The revelation slowed his pace even further. Lykrosis knew not what the creature’s intentions were nor what its purpose was but he once again felt the same curiosity as he had the first time he had seen it.

 _No,_ he thought to himself in defiance at his own foolishness. Already he had betrayed the crew with his continued trysts. He had kept to his own silence, pursued an unknown enemy, and allowed it to live when he had had many opportunities to kill it. He had permitted it to remove his armor, to touch him, and he had touched and spoken with it in turn. He had even sat upon the ground when he was of such low rank, which was expressly forbidden. There was no way to know what information it had garnered from the encounters nor how dangerous it could be to the crew and he had not gained enough information in turn to make it profitable.

_I will give them no more thought._

* * *

Something was wrong, well, more wrong than usual.

The female had been rejected before; more than once she and her target species were incompatible in some form or another. Usually they were too aggressive, preferring to slaughter her than sleep with her and oftentimes the ghost figured this was because they were just too low in intelligence to understand what she wanted from them. Other times, the problem had been purely physical; their parts just hadn’t been meant to go together, and **that** was something it wished it could forget it had ever seen.

So, it had happened before but she had never reacted like this. Usually, before they had even had a chance to return to the ship, the female had already moved on. She would accept that that species had not been the one she needed, which it still had no idea how she made that determination or what she was actually looking for. Nonetheless, she knew and her previous target was completely forgotten as she planned the planet they would visit next.

Since the female had decided the Fallen were worth her attention, things had been different. It had felt new and varying emotions from her, both good and bad, and she had done things that made it happy to see whilst still making it worry even more. All of which fit with the fact that she had told the ghost that this time was different, that the Fallen were special, that this vandal was special.

Now that she had seemingly lost him, the female did not follow her previous pattern. She did not look for another Fallen nor did she decide to move on to another planet.

She sat.

She sat on her sofa and did nothing. She didn’t move, she didn’t eat, and only because she hadn’t yet passed out did the ghost know that she still breathed. It was commonplace for her to keep to her motionlessness and silence, but this time was different. The ghost could feel it, could feel the difference between intense thought and blankness, between focused staring and the empty gaze.

A few days into her stupor, the ghost has taken to trying to elicit some reaction from her. It spoke to her about anything and everything. It prompted her to eat, to drink. It banged around, it yelled at her, and played her her favorite music. When none of that was successful, it tried to provide her with other targets. It urged her to try the Fallen again and spoke more fervently about the Hive and Cabal. It even told her that maybe she could give humans a try or even the Awoken.

Nothing worked.

A day later and it finally felt the physical pain consuming her. It was as though it had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, but the ghost understood now that this had always been there; she had just hidden it like she had hidden everything else. The turmoil and guilt stemming from her clawed at it and the physical pain worsened quickly with time. Whatever this was, whatever was wrong with her, she was no longer fighting it. The realization of what was happening hit it hard and the desperation began to sink in.

The female, its female, had given up and the worst part was that it didn’t even know why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Good? Angsty? Anybody just want me to go back to Fallen/Female smexy times? Lol. Since this is my first fic in the Destiny fandom and most of you probably haven’t read my work before, I’m going to clue you in on a secrete without revealing any spoilers about this fic. I have always said that I am much better at torturing my characters than I am at making them happy, so my fics usually have some major angst along the way. Its twisty, feelsy, and keeps you guessing, which I think is a huge part of what makes them great.   
> Eventually though, I like happy, fluffy, smexy times just like everybody else. You just gotta wait. ;)
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Nuur'khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> Dr'yaa-ocean.   
> K'ntr-measure of length. It is equivalent to about 100 meters.


	19. Vandal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to all of my readers who have stuck with me! You guys are the best.
> 
> So I know I said I had this chapter almost ready when I last posted, but it was really bad. I mean, really bad. I kept rereading and rereading and finally I scrapped it and wrote it again. I think it is much better for it, so sorry about the wait, but I think you guys will unknowingly appreciate it because before it was just… damn. I do hope you enjoy as there is honestly so much I love about it in terms of content; it really has a lot of foreshadowing and many of the plot arcs are starting to unfold. 
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-slight angst.

When he finally arrived back at the caves, Kreesis was waiting for him, which conveniently saved him the effort of having to locate the other vandal. He gave a quick, respectful greeting, but indicated that he wanted to walk while they spoke. He needed to dress his kill as quickly as possible and that required him to be near a disposal unit as he would have to excise the creature’s bowels and dispose of them properly. Captain Tyriks was particularly ill-tempered whenever acrid scents bathed the home caves from overzealous dregs perforating the organs in their frenzy to feed.

To his surprise, Kreesis did not immediately prompt him for his report.

Instead he said rather abruptly, “You were foolish.”

Lykrosis growled reflexively at being referred to as such, but he did not issue a warning yet as he was unsure of what the reaver was speaking.

“Issue challenge to reavers,” he continued, “Foolish and uncharacteristic of you. Your apathy for dominance exertion, well known,” and the other vandal glanced at him waiting for a response.

“I am aware,” clicked Lykrosis in annoyance at the reminder. He had known it to be such as soon as he had done it and he did not need Kreesis to tell him that.

“Perhaps not,” came a much quieter reply.

The phrasing and tone in which the statement had been given caught his attention for it was peculiar and sounded almost… ominous. Lykrosis stopped his advance, causing the reaver to pause as well, and he addressed the other more fully this time. “Speak plainly, Kreesis.”

In return, Kreesis chittered quietly, almost thoughtfully. It lasted only a few moments before he finally replied, “It is unimportant. Come. Preparation is necessary. I will accompany you.”

Lykrosis thought about prompting him for a better answer but decided against it. If the reaver didn’t want to speak then he wouldn’t. Besides, he knew Kreesis would tell him anything of interest that pertained to him.

After that, they continued on in silence, but it was companionable. Lykrosis was not one to speak much and the reaver shared the same propensity, which had allowed them to enjoy each other’s company on most occasions. They had quickly teamed up as dregs for this vary reason as most other dregs could not stop bickering and chittering for more than a single moment. As they had passed more moments together, they had also learned that they shared a quiet and composed demeanor as well as a clever sense of humor that could turn sardonic in an instant.

Their difference in rank had not diminished their interactions. Kreesis had never treated him as lesser, still preferring his company over many of the other reavers, which had led to some brutal challenges for them both. Lykrosis used the reaver as the bountiful source of information that he was given his higher rank and in turn, gave the other vandal his loyalty.

Finally arriving at the disposal room, he noted a single Elder vandal in the farthest corner cleaning his own pelt, but otherwise it was vacant. The Elder vandal looked up as they entered and they both gave a silent greeting, but it was not returned. Technically, Kreesis was of higher rank so not returning the greeting could be taken as a sign of disrespect, but no Fallen was unintelligent enough to accuse an Elder Fallen of such a thing.

Elder Fallen were highly respected in their own right despite class and rank. To have lived on the home-planet meant they had survived many challenges and had seen far more than any Fallen spawned on this planet probably ever would. But that fact was also the reason they were all cynical and generally unpleasant to be around. However, they were generally reclusive, preferring to socialize only with each other anyways, so one did not have to deal with their disagreeable demeanors often.

Not wanting to intrude, Lykrosis set his kill down far away from the other vandal and began to clean it. For most prey, he wouldn’t have wasted the energy nor the resources, instead tearing it apart and consuming it on the spot. However, the pelt was too useful to destroy in such a way. He would remove it carefully using the heated edge of a shock dagger, clean it thoroughly, and then decide where it would serve the most usage.

Kreesis watched quietly as Lykrosis made the first precise incision in the prey’s throat, and then started up another conversation that once again had nothing to do with his report. “Dr’sis and Teehis have not returned from patrol. Preliminary reports suggest destroyed, nuur’khu.”

Dr’sis and Teehis were the two other stealth vandals that occupied the same sleeping room as him. Lykrosis had neither enjoyed nor felt aggravation in their company so his only thoughts on the matter were that he would temporarily have more space to himself. At least until more dregs were moved up in rank to replace them. However, to Kreesis he gave a respectful touch of the mandibles and said, “It is a loss to the crew.”

A siphon of ether denoted the reaver’s amusement at his words. “A tactful response.”

“It was truthful,” Lykrosis replied although his tone held a touch of sarcasm.

Kreesis laughed fully at that. “And yet, the situation favors you.”

“I will enjoy the silence,” he said his own mandibles clicking with his humor. Finishing with the disembowelment, Lykrosis disposed of the organs and then turned to the cleaning of the pelt. He did so distractedly as now that their banter had tapered off, the previous mention of nuur’khu quickly turned his thoughts toward the creature and his impending conversation with the reaver. Impulsively, he asked, “Kreesis, are you knowledgeable of term ‘female’?”

He took a moment to think before stating, “I am unfamiliar. Explain.”

“Unfamiliar as well. Heard another speak it. Perhaps it is non-existent.” He didn’t know why he had bothered to ask; he had known the nuur’az was trying to deceive him.

“Perhaps, but the archive will serve you.”

The archive was a consolidation of all the information the Fallen had generated or acquired since arriving on this planet. Most of it was restricted and beyond his access, but it was a viable suggestion had he wanted to pursue the answer. _I will not._

“You will finish, I must patrol. What of your report?” Kreesis asked finally.

Lykrosis looked up from his scrubbing intending to report fully on what he had witnessed, but when the words came out, he surprised himself. “Inconclusive. Tracks and scent in area but unknown.”

The reaver’s lower arm gave a small flick of acceptance for there was no reason for him to believe that the stealth vandal would withhold information from him. “Nuur’khu tricks most likely. We will increase patrols,” and then he left.

Lykrosis gathered his pelt and walked out only moments after the reaver’s departure. Apparently, he **was** going to let his curiosity override his better judgment.

What both stealth vandals had failed to notice during their time in the disposal room was the way the elder vandal’s helm had snapped to their position at the mention of the word ‘female’.

* * *

Pain. Overwhelming— _no, nooo…_ unbearable pain. Inside, it is inside. Spreading with time. Darkness, nothingness. Taking, consuming. Body is failing, suffocating under the weight.

_Soon… soon it will not be mine._

Her last chance, failed. She felt it all. Absolute misery. Physical, emotional.

Ghost does not understand, Ghost is hurting.

But… she couldn’t anymore, she was so tired. _Finally, I will rest._

But… Ghost. Before, _I must explain. Ghost needs this. Ghost needs to know._

She thought of it.

…

She thought of it.

…

Ghost does not come.

_Where?_

Ghost is hovering near terminal. Scanning, working.

She thought of it.

Ghost flinches.

She understood. She tried again. Pulling strength, her own voice now, _Ghost?_

“No.”

_Ghost—_

“No! I’m not doing this. When you decide you want to get up off your ass and come talk to me, then I will hear what you have to say.”

Ghost is angry. No, the words are angry. Ghost feels… distraught. Recognition setting in. Surge of pain.

She did not need to explain. Her barriers were gone. Ghost understood, Ghost could feel it too.

_Ghost… I tried._

“Don’t say that to me. Not now. Not after all this time.” Ghost turns. That one, beautiful blue eye. It has no face, but… it looks sad. “Let me help you. I know the vanguard can help; whatever this is, they can help you fight it.”

Smiling, sadly. Ghost flinches again.

_Too late._

“Only because you are giving up. I don’t know why this is happening, but I’m not going to let one stupid vandal take you away from me. There are thousands more like him and we’ll find you another one. Now get up!”

…

She wanted to reply… but she couldn’t remember. It was taking more. It was destroying her mind now. She was fading.

Looks away, toward the cockpit. Far away, the planet.

She didn’t remember the name.

“Please?” Ghost… pleads? Looks back. Ghost is desperate. “Let me take you down.” Desperate, but it waits, waits for consent.

Pang. Again it comes. Crippling pain. Harsher, crueler. The darkness knows, it knows.

It would have her. _I am ready._ But… not here. Not in this place. She would let Ghost have this.

Pushing, hard. Strength waning. But, just enough. Finally, standing. Looking, looking at Ghost.

She gave her consent.

…

Cliffs, pools. Transmat is exhausting—collapses to knees, labored breathing. Shifts sideways seeking comfort. Leaning, arm supports.

A piercing light, cool metal. So close.

It brushes her cheek. She felt… peaceful.

“I don’t want you to die.”

 _Dying? Yes… and no,_ but she didn’t tell Ghost. It was better, it didn’t need to know.

“I don’t want you to leave me.”

…

_Where…_

…

“…lp from the vanguard.”

Noise. _No_ , speaking. Coming from… there. A ball, of light? Floating, moving. Strange.

_No. I… I know this._

Yes, yes! She knew, she remembered, but… not its name.

Looking down. Pools, water. Reflection. Black… blue… white… red…

A spurt of recognition. She remembered everything. _Ghost…_ she saw it and it looked at her. Her last sight, her last sight would be Ghost. That felt right.

…

Looking down. Pools, water. Reflection.

_…_

_Who. Am. I?_

…

Thinking. Trying, trying to remember. Anything?

….

There is nothing. Why is there nothing? More, thinking more. There has to be something.

Looking down. Reflection.

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, did anybody catch the tiniest, barest glimpse of an almost non-existent hint that I dropped about what is really happening to her? :P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Nuur'khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> Nuur'az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.


	20. Pivotal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies! Sorry about the wait, but this is the busiest time of year for me at work and I just haven’t had a lot of time to write. It also didn’t help that I went back and forth on this chapter quite a few times. It kept going in a direction I didn’t like and I couldn’t seem to pull it back for a while. Probably the perfectionist side of me stressing over everything. Anyways, I am relatively happy with it now and hope you will enjoy it as well. I think it makes up for the wait in content ;)
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-Adult content.

This planet’s only star was high in the sky when he arrived at the hollow, its heated energy slightly elevating his core temperature and the cooler breeze lapping at the periphery of his bio-suit. The air in this area was heavily ionized due to the proximity of the dr’yaa and at this moment it pushed at him, an indicative pressure signaling the imminent sky water that was sure to fall.

His trek to the pools had been long; his indecisiveness about seeking out the creature again had led him to many false-starts and turnabouts. He knew that he should not be here, that he should not do this. There were many reasons against it, more than he cared to think about, and only his curiosity and the slimmest chance of acquiring something of value were for it. The decision should have been simple, but in the end, his curiosity had won out over everything else.

To validate what he had already known to be true, that the nuur’az had been attempting to deceive him, Lykrosis had consulted the archive as Kreesis had suggested. He had poured over every file he could find, followed reference after reference, but he had not encountered the word ‘female’. None of the databases had a single mention of it or anything close and he had tried many permutations of the word given the nuur’az poor knowledge of the language.

Then, right when he had decided that he was satisfied, he found it. A single line, buried deep in the archive and completely illegible to him. When he had attempted to link the file based on phrase fragments, he had been referred to a multitude of files, more so than he could ever read, and each one restricted beyond his access.

The nuur’az… had been truthful.

And that fact had clawed at him. His continuous thoughts on the matter would not allow him to rest and his l’nat curiosity would not abate. If the pair had spoken truth about this, then what else had they spoken that he should give credence to? More importantly, what else did they know?

It would not do him well to dwell on such a thing so in this Lykrosis had relented; he had to understand. For now, he would give the creature what it wanted and in return he would take from it all that it knew. If he was fortuitous, then the information would give him a distinct advantage over the other vandals also seeking reaver status and could possibly gain him favor with the captain.

Before the pair noticed his presence, he took a moment to study their behavior in case there was something to be learned. The creature sat leisurely upon the ground as it usually did, leaning to one side and supported by a single outstretched claw. The nuur’az floated very close, speaking quietly and periodically nuzzling into the creature’s face. He did not understand the purpose of this, but figured it must be some form of communication he had not previously witnessed.

After a few moments, the small machine floated away a few ntr stating, “I’m requesting help from the vanguard.” Given the change in the direction of the breeze only moments before, which had undoubtedly carried his scent toward them, Lykrosis chose that moment to deactivate his stealth figuring they were already aware of his presence.

Immediately, he knew that he had been wrong. The nuur’az spun toward him and then its individual plates separated abruptly, which Lykrosis was almost certain meant surprise as he had seen it perform the same action before the first time he had happened upon the pair. He was surprised himself when it streaked toward him and he gripped his shock blades tighter in preparation to strike, but it stopped just out of reach. The little machine moved quickly from side to side, staring at him in perhaps evaluation, and then shouted at him in E’lik, “You said you would not return!”

Lykrosis wasn’t sure what to make of these unusual actions, but his first thought was, _it implies that I am dishonest._ “I did not intend to,” he replied with the first stirrings of an angered growl.

“Why did you?”

“My motives are my own. The female desires to perform the display, yes?” he said, impatient with the questioning from the machine.

“Perform the display?” it repeated quietly almost as though speaking to itself. “Oh, yes, yes she does.”

“Then it is agreed. We will perform the display. Afterwards, you will answer questions.” Lykrosis deactivated his shock blades but maintained his grip on them just in case, and then began to undo his belt with his lower claws. Thankfully, the display did not take a significant number of moments to complete as he was admittedly eager to ask the nuur’az many questions.

Although he was agreeing to this entirely for the information he desired, Lykrosis recognized that he was also pleased that he would have an opportunity to perform the display again. There was no denying that the overwhelming sensations he felt during the act were most gratifying.

“Wait.” The stealth vandal paused his actions just before the panels of his bio-suit were opened and looked at the nuur’az considerately although it wouldn’t have recognized the look for what it was. “She wants to, but… she can’t right now.”

“Then why be here?” he asked, his impatience growing.

“Uh…” but it did not continue speaking, instead it flicked its gaze between him and the creature who had, uncharacteristically, not moved since he had arrived.

“Nuur’az foolishness,” he growled at its incompetence. This had been a wasted journey.

He spun around ready to depart back up the path when he heard, “Wait!” Lykrosis was hardly in the mood to entertain these creatures further, but he paused, turning back slightly to let the nuur’az know it had but a few moments to speak. “She… she doesn’t want you to leave.”

“That is of no consequence. If the female cannot perform, I have nothing to trade for information,” he replied facing it more fully.

“I’m not sure I understand.”

The vandal repeated the strange phrase to himself several times wondering if there was a misplaced or missing word. _How can one be unsure of what they know?_ In the end, the nuur’az word choice was indecipherable and he stated as much, “What means this?”

“I do not understand what your previous sentence meant.”

Lykrosis scoffed at the translation, “Your grasp of E’lik is rudimentary. No Fallen would say something so asinine; you understand or you do not. The female desires to perform the display; I desire information. If the female cannot perform, there is no trade to be made.”

“You don’t have to trade anything. She will answer your questions if you stay.” A trill of disbelief escaped him unbidden at the nuur’az attempts to persuade him; no creature would divulge such information without receiving something in return. If it did, then it was foolish indeed. The little machine must have recognized the sound for what it was though because it stated next, “If you are skeptical, then leave; you already know we won’t try to stop you. However, you will leave without the information you seek.”

Lykrosis did not answer immediately as he was honestly confused. He understood the meaning well enough given that the nuur’az had finally spoken directly as opposed to the convoluted and drawn out sentences it usually strung together. What he did not understand was the motivation behind this. The creature was not as foolish as its actions often appeared to be, so why would it offer up information freely? It was not advantageous for any species to do such a thing. Information was to be expressly guarded at all times.

He did not have enough context to form a theory as of yet, but his purpose was to gain information from the pair and that was what the nuur’az was offering. “This is acceptable.”

“Acceptable… so you will stay?”

“Yes,” he clicked sarcastically. _Why does it need clarification on such a simple statement?_

“Okay. You can ask whatever you wish to know.”

There were many topics he intended to understand, but he started with the question that had been plaguing him most recently. “What is a ‘female’?”

The nuur’az turned quickly toward its partner, a motion the vandal had come to recognize as the creature transmitting information to it. When it looked toward him again, it said, “She does not wish for me to tell you. She says it is because the information will endanger you. The fact that you do not know this means that your house leadership does not **want** you to know.”

“The female should not presume to know of my house’s intentions,” he retorted even though he had come to that exact conclusion himself after he had finished with the archive.

“Fine, but the consequences of this information are your own. “Female” is a sex. For most species on this planet there are two sexes, male or female. There are some species that have more than two and some that have only one, but both of these types are less common. Based on what we know of Fallen, you also have only two.”

“What purpose has this, sex?”

“The two sexes typically have different general characteristics that help the species survive as a whole. One of the sexes is usually larger and stronger while the other is more intelligent. There may also be a difference in the sexes’ ability to hunt versus defend. It is not easy to be definitive unless referring to a specific species. What all of the two-sex species have in common is that they are able to mate. Mating, or performing the display, as you called it, requires one male and one female. I’m going to guess your next question is about the purpose of mating; it is simply because it feels good.”

Once again, Lykrosis allowed many moments to elapse as he considered the words. There was no way to know the validity of the nuur’az explanations, but there were pieces that seemed plausible. When first he had seen the creature without its coverings, he had noted the similarities and variances between its body and his own, particularly the absence of a waste organ. Given the explanation, that would make the sdee’al male as well and its waste organ, despite the size, functioned similar to his own. The waste organ itself had also fit perfectly inside of the creature, which made sense if in addition to eliminating waste, it was to be used for mating.

What he failed to believe was that the sole purpose of mating was because it felt pleasant to the body. The act left the male and female pair vulnerable to each other and to outside attack to such an extent that logic dictated the risk of destruction outweighed the gain.

A series of deafening rumbles interrupted his thoughts and drew his gaze upwards. During his brief stay in the hollow, the atmosphere had steadily become even more oppressive and the planet had darkened considerably with the oncoming sky water. He cursed his misfortune as he was far from finished questioning the pair, but the violence promised by the planet given his sensor readings would force him to return to the home caves. “I must leave.” Lykrosis moved quickly intent not to linger as it was already likely that he would not make it all the way to the caves before the sky water began to fall.

“No, don’t leave!”

He paused briefly with a growl. “The sky water comes, Nuur’az. It will not be pleasant. You should leave as well.” Lykrosis wasn’t sure what prompted him to say that, instinctual response perhaps, but he realized it sounded as though he cared whether or not the pair survived. He did not.

“We can’t leave and… we need you here.” As much as he knew he needed to leave, the phrase caught his attention. “Look, we know you are intelligent, so we know that you know she would not leave herself so vulnerable to you or the sdee’al when mating if she didn’t have a reason.”

The creature’s purpose. Was the nuur’az offering to tell him? Of all he had learned conversing with the pair, this was still something he had failed to deduce and one of the driving factors behind his continued tolerance of them. The information could be pivotal to the crew and in other ways he had not been able to foresee given how much he did not know.

Another rumble, louder this time, _closer_ , thundered and electricity patterned the sky. The air whipped by him, harsher and growing in force the more moments he waited. Lykrosis shook himself out if his indecision with a frustrated trill, “I wish to know this reason, but it is foolishness to remain.”

Lykrosis did not even have the chance to turn this time before the nuur’az was shouting at him again. “She can shield you both. There will be no danger.” At the words, the creature teleported away from the pools, which were sure to overfill, and closer to the crashed ship off to his right. It’s position on the ground remained the same, which struck Lykrosis as odd, but he could not give it consideration right now.

“What means this ‘shield you’?”

“A large shield of pure nuur surrounding us. You may have seen nuur’khu do it before. This will be similar. Inside will be calm as though there was no storm, or… like there was no sky water… falling.”

There were very few moments left to evaluate his choices. He desired greatly to question the pair further, and if what the nuur’az spoke was true, to see this shield for himself. However, the probability that this was a trick was also high. He would be trapped here until the sky water was finished, not only here, but in close proximity to the pair. It would be the perfect opportunity to attack.

And yet, the fact that he still lingered was probably decision enough.

Now that Lykrosis knew they could communicate, he would be direct with the pair as opposed to before their mating. It was the most logical course of action if he would continue interacting with them. “Know this, Nuur’az. I tolerate your presence. In return, I desire information and mating with the female. If you turn hostile, I will kill the female and my crew shall have you. It will be painful for you both.”

The little machine settled down into the lap of the creature seemingly in preparation to wait out the sky water. Its single eye was fixated on him as if evaluating his threat and Lykrosis approved of this because he would not hesitate to destroy them both. A few moments passed, the sky water just beginning to fall, before it stated, “Agreed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo? Was it even remotely worth the wait? I surely hope so. If you are wondering why the simplistic and rather fleeting explanation about sexes and mating, Ghost has his reasons for telling the absolute truth and yet omitting a few key details about the consequences of mating.
> 
> BTW, I know this chapter had a rather serious tone, particularly from Ghost since he is so worried about our female, but did anyone else chuckle when Lykrosis was about to just whip his dick out? Charming approach. Lololol. 
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Dr'yaa-ocean  
> Nuur'az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> L’nat-Fallen curse word closest to 'damn'  
> Ntr-measure of length. It is equivalent to about a meter.  
> E’lik-Fallen Language  
> Sdee’al-Hive Knight  
> Nuur-guardian light  
> Nuur'khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.


	21. Smiling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies! I know it’s been way too long, but I told you guys before that the government FY end is the busiest time of year for me at work. Combine that with normal life, writer’s block, and saving some time to actually play the game we all love so much especially with the release of Rise of Iron, I didn’t have a lot of spare time. However, life is quieter now and I’m writing again. 
> 
> I really like this chapter even though I do realize not a lot happens, but it serves a specific purpose and I think it gives the first real flares of the developing relationship between these two. Does it have smut? No. We can’t just expect our femme to be rearing to go given what she just went through. (If you guys are craving some Femme x Fallen action, check out my one-shot: Friksor. A little distraction to get me out of my writer’s block, but some smutty goodness nonetheless.) Anyways, enjoy!

Lykrosis would never have spoken the words aloud, but he was thoroughly impressed with the creature’s shield.

After moving as close to the pair as he had been willing, and the nuur’az had had to prompt him closer a few times, the creature formed it around them. Slowly its claw had raised, moving in an arch and bright, purple nuur followed suit. It pushed upwards from the soil, spreading outward from a single line to form the perfect shield around them.

The little machine had spoken truth as well because although outside the planet raged around them, inside he felt nothing. It was as though the sky water did not even fall and that made him insatiably curious about this use of nuur. How did the creature accomplish such a thing?

Still crouched, he moved closer to the false wall and reached toward it with a single lower claw intending to inspect its composition.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

Lykrosis glanced in the direction of the pair, clicking his annoyance at the interruption, but also heeding the warning.

“After creation, the shield is self-sustaining as long as it has an energy source and that source is anything that touches it. If pure energy such as nuur or light rays contact the surface, then it is absorbed and dispersed throughout the shield. If something touches it that is not pure energy, then the object’s chemical energy is drained, converted to nuur, and once again, dispersed. Anything unusable is broken down and lost to the void. Trust me, disintegration and energy drain are not things you want happening to your armor, or worse, your claw.”

Lykrosis listened intently to the explanation trying to understand all of what the nuur’az spoke. He didn’t but what he did understand was enough to change his mind about touching the shield and instead inspect it visually. When he switched his focus from the entirety of it to a small section on the outer surface, he could see the recurring process of which the little machine spoke.

Everyone drop of sky water distorted from its gravity defined shape and then burst on contact with the nuur. Tiny bolts of what looked like purple electricity radiated outward from the site of impact along the surface of the false wall. This must be the energy being drained and dispersed so that the shield could power itself. The water droplet appeared to be burned away in a microscale torrent of more purple nuur.

The vandal studied the process over and over as the sky water continued to fall and tried to ascertain how it was accomplished. This shield was deceptively dangerous because although it was a defensive ability, it was a weapon nonetheless. Not only did it protect the creature from distant attacks, but it would eradicate any enemy trying to penetrate it as well. _Replicating this use of nuur, Fallen fortifications would be impenetrable._ _Need to know transformative proper…_ but his thoughts were interrupted.

“Anyways,” the nuur’az began, pausing briefly to lift out of the creature’s lap and nuzzle at its face again, before turning toward him and continuing, “before we answer your questions, I have one question for you. You said that if we turn hostile, then you will kill us both. Does that mean that if we do not turn hostile, then we can trust you not to attack us?”

Lykrosis considered this. Instinctually, he did not wish to make such a binding agreement, but his past aggression caused the creature to be as wary of him as he was of it. Feeling safe might make the pair more forthcoming and that was worth the trade, at least momentarily. “In this moment, yes,” he finally replied turning away from the shield to face them.

Again, as his eyes fell on the creature, he silently questioned its unusual stillness. Why did it not acknowledge him when normally it tracked his movements with unwavering attention? Even while using its nuur, the creature’s body position had not changed, only its claw moving.

However, no longer distracted by the shield or nuur’az words, the vandal began to pick up on minute details of the female’s prostrated form. Its eyes were closed, face displaying an expression he was unfamiliar with but it was distinctly not calm or pleased. Its planted claw was shaking violently almost as though it was struggling to hold up its own weight. He focused his audio receptors on it and found its respiration to be clearly audible, labored even, the rise and fall in its chest suggesting the same.

The nuur’az word choice came back to him as he considered this change in the situation. The female **could not** perform the display; they **could not** leave.

Was the creature… injured?

He scented the air, but did not detect any lifeblood indicating the presence of wounds. Still, there was no mistaking the signs of distressed prey. Why then would they ask him to remain here in such close proximity when he could destroy them both now seemingly without difficulty? Of course, the nuur’az had been quick to elicit an agreement from him not to attack and Lykrosis was now bound by his own honor to leave it be during this engagement.

_Clever creature._

Instead of seeking further information about sexes and mating, Lykrosis decided first to ascertain the extent of the female’s condition. He would not press the advantage because he had agreed not to, but he would still seek to maintain it and knowing how to injure the creature was definitely advantageous. “Why does the female not move?”

“She just needs some time.”

“What means this, ‘needs some time’?” he asked unfamiliar with that usage of the word ‘time’.

“Right, I forgot,” it said in that quiet manner that Lykrosis had concluded as it talking to itself. “‘Time’ is a concept used heavily on this planet, so we will need to teach you to use it as well in order to communicate effectively. For now, it just means she needs some… moments, I believe is the word.”

“Do not speak untruths to me, Nuur’az,” he growled. “The female’s body displays signs.”

“I’m not. She is injured, but she will heal with enough moments.” The little machine turned back toward its partner speaking a few words in their own language before switching to E’lik again. “She wishes to lean on you while we speak. Will you permit this?”

The vandal was taken aback by the request. “Why?”

“She is having trouble sitting up and does not wish to lie on the ground.”

“The female can lean against the rock,” he replied matter-of-factly; he did not see the purpose in such a request.

“She desires the warmth from your body.”

“The female’s temperature exceeds my own. I will feel cold.”

“She says its better than the wall.”

The answer was truthful; his temperature was greater than that of the rock surrounding the hollow. However, Lykrosis felt it more likely that the female desired to touch him more so than for the miniscule heat he would provide, which once again raised the question of why?

While he was still trying to determine if this was some sort of trap, the nuur’az confirmed his theory. “She asked you to remain because she likes seeing you and touching you,” and then, it asked a very unexpected question, “Do you not like touching her?”

Did he?

There was no doubt that the sensations he felt during the mating had been gratifying, but the female had done all of the active touching. Lykrosis thought back to the event and realized that that was not accurate; instinctively, he had grabbed the creature when it attempted to climb off him.

In the moment, he had been too surprised by his own actions to think about how touching the creature had felt. Considering it now though, he had enjoyed feeling the intense heat of its body and grasping the soft flesh with his sensitive lower claws. “Mating the female pleased me,” he finally admitted, “however, leaning is not mating.”

“True, but humans touch each other for all kinds of reasons and it can still feel good even when not mating.”

“What means this, ‘hu’ins’?”

“Something else we need to discuss. First, will you come sit with us and permit her to touch you?”

Lykrosis considered this request again. Already he had done many things he never should have and mating the creature was much more invasive than allowing it lean on him, but he still hesitated. The pair were an anomaly, a mystery, and their actions were never in line with what he expected. It made them difficult to understand and even more difficult to predict. He was not convinced that they did not have hostile intentions nor that this was not a trap.

“We’re not trying to trick you. If you say no, it is fine. We will still converse with you.”

A small siphon of ether was his only response for a while as he continued to stare at the pair, but eventually, he made his decision. “I will permit this. Remember my warning, Nuur’az.”

“Right. We turn hostile, you kill us. Got it.”

Lykrosis moved slowly to the creature’s right and knelt down next to it close enough for it to touch him as it desired. He wasn’t sure what to expect next, but the creature immediately shifted to lean up against him, placing the side of its face against his chest and shoulder armor.

Unlike previously when it had climbed on top of him, his predatory instincts were not activated by the creature’s touch, but still he stilled in response. Outside he was calm, waiting, but inside his body felt electrified. His lifeblood pumped rapidly, heat spreading with it, and he felt the stirring in his abdomen indicating his body’s desire to perform the display despite the fact that the creature’s pheromones were not present to incite the reaction.

Once again he was assaulted by everything that was the creature. The intense heat and soft flesh of its body pressed up against him. The feeling of its strange, flexible armor smoothing against his own and catching here and there against its various edges. The rhythmic current of air that followed its deep exhales. Its scent, that intoxicating scent, saturating his receptors and now that he was so close, the distinctive scent coming from its tendrils, which was similar to that of flora and just as pleasant.

The last thing he noticed as he took in its form was that its face had finally changed. The previous lines had all smoothed out, leaving it calmer than before and as he watched, both corners pulled upward slowly in an expression he had become more and more familiar with throughout their interactions.

“Smiling,” said the nuur’az, which pulled him abruptly out of his concentrated state. His gaze shifted from the creature to its machine partner as it continued to speak, “When her mouth moves like that it is called smiling. It means she is content or pleased.”

“I had deduced this.”

“I’m sure you had, but at least you know what it is called now. Anyways, you wished to converse. I know you have questions, but I think we should just start at the beginning. If you are willing to listen, I will tell you as much as I can about this planet and its inhabitants, which I believe will help us communicate better and probably answer many of your questions. Afterwards, you can ask about anything else you would like to know. Is this agreeable?”

The vandal wasn’t sure what was meant by ‘start at the beginning’, _what beginning,_ but he was nevertheless intrigued by the offer to explain details of both the planet and its creatures. All information was useful in some form or another even if he could not see that usage just yet. “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you guys don’t feel like the pace is too slow or worse, stagnant. I like to write realistically, so that often requires descriptiveness, appropriate buildup, and consequently, length. I’ll try not to take too long with the next update as I have already got the chapter partially written, and you guys will be happy to know that for the next few chapters at least, we will pretty much have constant Lykrosis and Femme interaction.  
> The good stuff included!
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Nuur’az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> Nuur-guardian light  
> E’lik-Fallen Language


	22. Species

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a big hello to the rest of you lovelies! As always, thank you for reading and to everyone who takes the time to leave a comment know that I appreciate all of you. Not much to say about this chapter other than I tried to deliver on what you guys asked for. More Cuddling-Check. Meaningful Conversation-Check. Smexy Times-Check. Enjoy ;)  
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-Interspecies sex, explicit sex, consensual sex, heterosexual sex

‘The beginning’ as it turned out was the structure of this system and the makeup of this planet, which the nuur’khu called Earth. Initially, the information seemed basic as he would have expected, but the more moments that passed, the more detailed the nuur’az explanations became. He wondered if the little machine would be as thorough with every topic they discussed and if so, he could not understand why it would disseminate this freely. Did it not understand how damaging this would be for the nuur’khu when he relayed this to his house leadership?

He readily took in all that it spoke but remained suspicious at the pair’s willingness to be so forthcoming. He did not allow his guard to drop even for a single moment. Particularly not with the creature still pressed up against him. Although, Lykrosis was surprisingly not as annoyed by its proximity as he thought he would be. The heat from the female’s soft flesh actually felt good as it seeped through his armor to warm his own body and he found its quiet exhales to be… calming.

Every once and awhile it would shift, a minute adjustment in its head or body, but the feeling it elicited in him was two-sided. His immediate reaction was to still. His senses would heighten as he waited for its next move, wondering if it would attack. His claws would flex repetitively, itching to grab his shock blades, but there was something else. There was always a feeling of excitement, anticipation, and not just to destroy it, but to be touching it, feeling it, as well.

“Earth, is the human home world…”

“Hu’ins means nuur’khu,” Lykrosis interrupted for the first time.

“Yes and no. Nuur’khu are protectors of this planet, warriors; it’s a title, not a species. Some humans are nuur’khu, but there are many that are not.”

“Not nuur’khu, not warriors. What purpose they serve?” he asked wondering what use there was for creatures that were not warriors.

“Well…”

Lykrosis did not interrupt again as the nuur’az proceeded to explain what he concluded to be the history of the hu’ins. Even by his own criteria, they would be considered a successful species and highly prolific, managing to spread around the entire planet and eventually to other planets within this system. That was, until this ‘Collapse’, which he noticed the little machine did not elaborate on, had wiped them almost completely out. Now the remaining individuals resided in a location called the ‘Last City’ and this is what the nuur’khu fought so viciously to protect.

Perhaps it was well defended, but amassing the entire population in one location was strategically unwise. It was too viable a target and if the enemy succeeded in their attack, would mean the end of the entire species. _Hu’ins, nuur’khu. Equally foolish,_ he thought derisively. _Fallen tactics_ , _obviously superior_. Better to be divided amongst various houses and localize into crews to hold more territory than to be isolated in one location.

Although, it may have been the only strategy available to their leadership since apparently, the hu’ins that were not nuur’khu were weak, easily damaged and destroyed. If the little machine was to be believed, even the lowliest of dregs could tear one to pieces without much effort.

It was a strange concept to have creatures incapable of defending themselves so that they must rely on others. The nuur’az proclaimed them to be intelligent, which he thought debatable, and that they contributed in other ways that aided their protectors and furthered the purpose of this Last City.

 _Strange, and ineffective_. In Fallen society, not only did every individual acquire a skill to maintain the crew’s efficacy, but they could also defend themselves and do battle. He felt a somewhat haughty sense of satisfaction at how blatantly superior his own kind was to these hu’ins.

“So the reason I explained all of this is because I want to make something clear: despite some very similar characteristics and abilities, she is not a human nor is she a nuur’khu. We do not seek to protect the Last City.”

Once again, this only confirmed what Lykrosis had already deduced about the pair. Their interactions with him and the sdee’al were too atypical; a nuur’khu would never leave them alive intentionally let alone desire to speak with them and perform mating. The creature had also previously attacked other nuur’khu and he was almost certain it had lead the group away from the home caves.

All this he knew, but that only explained what the creature was not and he wanted to understand what it was, what purpose it served. He also wanted to know, if it wasn’t a nuur’khu, then why did it possess a nuur’az? “Your partnership contradicts your assertions, Nuur’az,” he accused reserving the fact that at this moment, he believed the little machine’s words.

“I know but it is the truth.”

“I find doubt. Not hu’in. Not nuur’khu. What creature is the female?”

The nuur’az made a sound similar to an exhale, but given that it did not need to respire, Lykrosis was at a loss for what it meant. Perhaps it was just expelling excess heat generated by its external processes; the servitors often performed such an action. “Honestly, I do not know. When I first found her, she was alone on Mars, but I knew immediately she was not of any species I am familiar with. I have searched many archives and historical records, but have not been able to find a species description that fits her characteristics.”

“Ask female.”

“Yeah, like I haven’t done that before.”

“It is foolish not to,” he clicked condescendingly. It was the simplest way to answer such a question; how the little machine had not thought to ask was beyond him.

“What? No, I was being sarcastic.”

…

Lykrosis remained silent. He wasn’t sure what to make of the statement. He was familiar with sarcasm, he often used it himself, but in this case he wasn’t sure what the nuur’az had been sarcastic about.

Prompted by the continued silence, it took the hint and explained itself, “Perhaps sarcasm doesn’t translate so well. Of course I have asked her what species she is; she does not know.”

The vandal scoffed at this assertion immediately. “The female, unknowledgeable of what creature… she is,” he said trying to use this female pronoun correctly, “This has no logic.”

The nuur’az made that sound again, this time its eye turning away from him to focus on the female as it continued much more quietly, “It is difficult to explain. She is… injured in her mind. I don’t know what ails her and neither does she. Whatever it is, it destroyed most of the memories of her life before we met and it also distorts the passage of… events so that in her mind the number of moments from one event to another is often incorrect.”

Lykrosis had never heard of an injury to the mind. It sounded like nuur’az tricks, but the vandal found himself believing the words. From the first moment he saw it, he had always found it to be strange even when compared with other nuur’khu. A thought hit him abruptly and he gave voice to it, “Injury, prohibits female from speaking?”

“I believe so. She understands language; in fact, when she recovers you can address her directly even though I will continue to answer for her, but for whatever reason she does not speak aloud. I’ve asked her why, but she never has an answer; she’s just blank like even she doesn’t know.”

He meant to ask another question, but a change in the female’s position distracted him. That same turbulent feeling overtook his body as apprehension and excitement entwined together within him. Unlike before when it had barely shifted probably in an effort to remain comfortable, now its head moved higher on his shoulder and he could tell from the audible inhales that it was scenting him.

“Uh, the female desires to mate,” said the nuur’az but the creature was already moving. Its head pulled back enough for it to look at him, that contented expression still gracing its features and both of its claws moved to his chestplate. It began to exert pressure in a bid for him to change position as it had done previously, but this time he would not allow it.

Lykrosis grabbed both its claws and wrenched them downward at a sharp angle that was most certainly painful. He succeeded in halting its movement while simultaneously gaining its attention. “It is forbidden.”

“What is forbidden?” asked the nuur’az looking somewhat alarmed by his hold on its partner if its erratic bobbing was any indication.

There was a brief silence as he debated internally about what he was willing to explain. Despite the pair’s willingness to overshare, Lykrosis was not inclined to do the same and was determined to tell them as little as possible about the Fallen. “I explain only to emphasize that I will not,” he warned so they would understand the seriousness of this. “Sitting signifies respect. It is a privilege of rank.”

“Really? That is fascinating. I have never heard anything of the sort and I have sifted through a lot of Fallen chatter. It must not be conveyed aloud ver… uh, hang on…” said the nuur’az abruptly cutting off its own rambling. “She says that is fine. She is still tired and would prefer you do all of the work anyways if that is agreeable?”

“What means this ‘do all of the work’?

“Previously when you mated, you sat and she moved. This time, she will be still and you will move.”

“Referring to the position, female and sdee’al?”

“You will kneel as the sdee’al did, but she will lie on her back in front of you. She will show you if you release her wrists.”

Lykrosis only realized then that he still had ahold of the female and despite the painful grip, it hadn’t tried to pull away. He had done it to make a point, but the vandal was still surprised how easy it was becoming to touch the creature and, to a lesser extent, allow it to touch him. “Previously, female refused to lie,” he accused while simultaneously releasing its claws.

“Right, well before we were talking so it would have been weird. Mating is different though.”

He wasn’t sure of the distinction that caused lying on the ground to be strange in once instance and not another, but he didn’t comment further on the matter. He waited a few moments for the creature to move into position, but instead it turned its head to view its machine partner.

It must have transmitted something to the nuur’az because it gave a quick reply and then addressed him again, “I’m going to transmat something, so don’t freak out and try to kill us.”

While he was still trying to figure out what ‘freak out’ meant, the little machine did as it said and transmatted an object directly behind the female. It appeared to be a dark blue fabric similar to the furs he slept on, but noticeably different. Without touching it he couldn’t be certain, but it seemed to be more supportive than his own furs and he felt a flash of envy at the thought of how comfortable it probably was.

“It’s called a comforter. It will provide a layer of protection and warmth for the female’s skin as opposed to if she lied directly against the ground.”

“Not necessary, female wears better armor,” he grumbled.

Instead of being angered by his words, the creature’s smiling unexpectedly increased in size and the nuur’az let out a short burst of laughter. “It’s not armor. It’s called clothing.”

“What difference exists, armor and ‘clo-thing’?” he demanded once again unable to see the distinction and irritated that it laughed at him.

“Clothing is what humans wear since they do not see combat. It is like your bio-suit, useful to protect the skin from small abrasions and the cold. For the most part, its actually just used for decoration.”

Lykrosis clicked disdain at this explanation. “Hu’in foolishness,” he said not bothering to hide his contempt.

Without further comment from the nuur’az, the female’s claws moved toward him again, this time immediately going for the lower panels of his bio-suit, and he allowed it. The gentle pressure and flashes of momentary sensation he felt as the creature gently rubbed against him in its effort to open his suit caused his waste organ to stir. His irritation disappeared in a flash and he marveled at the change in his own body that he still did not understand.

The female drew his shaft out, a single claw smoothing from base to tip, and his thoughts were all but drowned out in a pleasant jolt of sensation. A hiss escaped him unbidden as receptors flared to life. The female rubbed along his shaft a few more times before lying back against the comforter with a tug on his organ. Understanding the pull for what it was, he moved into a kneeling position between its thighs. There was always reticence in the back of his mind when it came to touching the creature, but he did desire to perform the mating again and this position put it at a physical disadvantage. The likelihood it would try to attack was low.

The creature uncovered its lower body by pulling the one-piece clothing up its thighs, allowing the fabric to pool around its waist. “Lift her hips up towards your groin and she will guide you inside. I’m sure you can figure out the rest. I’m going to go… scan something,” it supplied although what should have been a statement of fact came out sounding more like a question. With those last few words, the shield abruptly disappeared and the nuur’az zipped off leaving him alone with the creature.

Lykrosis had not given much consideration to his surroundings since they had begun speaking and he belatedly noticed that the sky water no longer fell. However, the area remained dark and he would need to return to the home caves immediately following the display. 

He grasped the female’s hips and backside with his upper claws and drew it toward him as the little machine had indicated. He was curious about the female’s own body, but another small piece of fabric obscured the apex of its thighs from his view. It lifted up, supporting its body on a single claw. Its other claw grabbed his waste organ eliciting a short trill that was both pleasure and unbeknownst to the creature, a noise of encouragement for more.

He tried to follow its progress as it positioned him, but after it pushed the fabric to the side using his waste organ, he was met with wetness and heat that made focusing on anything near impossible. The creature laid back again and figuring he was now positioned at its entrance, Lykrosis began to pull its hips toward him.

Tight, wet heat enveloped the very tip of his sensitive shaft, crushing down around him and by the servitors, it felt good. Just inside, he felt resistance. Not having encountered this before, he considered just for a moment that he might damage it. However, the thought was lost like all the others as he continued to bury himself and the creature allowed him.

With half his length buried, the female’s hips bucked pushing him deeper inside. His own hips thrust forward out of reflex and their bodies slammed together roughly. His helm tilted down with a low growl, the slightest touch of building pressure in his groin fueling his desire. More, he wanted more.

Just being inside its body felt good but the movement was what caused the pressure to increase, it was what caused him the most pleasure. Lykrosis tried to pull the creature’s hips away from him, but with its upper body pressed into the ground, he found the movement more difficult than he originally figured. He moved the female back toward him and tried again, but the result was the same. Frustration filled him, but even the small movements were pleasing and he was admittedly desperate to feel more sensation against his shaft.

Lykrosis continued moving the female back and forth in irregular drags and he recognized that it was not a smooth repetitive movement like that of the sdee’al, but he didn’t care. The blossoming of heat let him know his climax was coming and a few more awkward jerks of the female’s hips pushed him over the edge. In an almost exact repeat of their last mating, his helm fell backwards, eyes slamming shut against the overwhelming pleasure, and growling filled the air. Pressure and heat flooded his entire body, it stemmed from his shaft and moved outward in what felt like a never-ending wave of unadulterated ecstasy. His body spasmed, organ throbbing as his fluids spurted into the female’s hot, hot sheath.

His growling calmed with the tapering of the waves and a quiet chittering of contentedness replaced them. Lykrosis came back to himself quickly, cutting off the unintentional noise, and focusing back on the creature.

It stared up at him with no discernable expression and simply waited.

Slowly, he separated their hips, a small shiver and trill escaping him at his now overly sensitive waste organ. His softening shaft slid out easily and then he lowered the female to the comforter.

The mating finished, Lykrosis rose in one swift movement. He would take his leave expeditiously now that darkness was falling and would soon cover the area. “I must leave,” was all he said before he collected his shock blades and started up the path that lead out of the hollow.

Almost out of the creature’s line of sight, he paused, the last instance when he had left this same place returning to the forefront of his mind. Lykrosis turned slightly, just enough to eye the creature that had twisted to watch him depart. It stared at him with that same blank expression and he considered it for a moment.

“I… will return,” and then he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so not exactly the smexiest thing I have ever written, but Lykrosis is still very new to this. He’s not going to be a pro right out of the gate and at this point, he’s so foreign to the concept of touch and affection, he’s still focused almost entirely on what’s happening to him and not our femme. Who, by the way, despite her insistence on mating, was still very tired and not exactly rearing to go.  
> Now, am I going to make you sit through more of these awkward and not so smexy learning encounters? Thank your deities for the answer is no. Next chapter or the one after that, haven’t quite decided, is going to be one of those fast-forwarded kinds of chapters. Like you, I want to get to the good stuff, but it’s also because I’m going to advance the storyline some more.
> 
> Anyways, let me know what you thought. Comments are much loved and much appreciated.
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Nuur'khu-literally means lightwielders. This is what Fallen call guardians.  
> Nuur'az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> Sdee’al-Hive Knight


	23. We Need to Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s not much to say about this one other than its pretty short, but hopefully the next one will follow soon. Enjoy!

Transmat.

 _Finally_. Ship. Exhausted. Sleep, sleep now.

…

…

Awake. _Where—_ sitting up. Soft, warm bed. Comfortable. _Ship._ Smiling gently. Ship is safe, secure. No fear. Looking. Ghost is near console, working. Always working. _How long?_

“You’ve been sleeping for two days.”

Smiling halts. Ghost is… agitated. It says nothing. Clearly agitated. _Why not speak?_ Ghost is strange. Deciding to wait. Time passes…

…

Ghost says nothing.

She will wait more.

_Still so tired._

Sleep, more sleep.

…

…

Another day passes. Ghost says nothing. Sighing. Ghost does this, always.

She would have to prompt it. She hated prompting it. She would be gentle. _Ghost?_

“What?” Ghost says quietly.

She **hated** prompting it. _Ghost?_

“I said what?” Ghost turns. Staring, blank staring. Waiting. Ghost turns away. “We need to talk.”

 _Yes?_ Waiting…

…

Waiting…

…

Ghost does this, **always.** Sighing again.

She knew, she would try. She would be gentle. It wouldn’t matter.

_Ghost?_

It turns and—explodes. “You’re dying! All this time, all this time and you never said anything. For two years we have been traveling from planet to planet doing all of this shit and you didn’t think maybe you should mention that you are dying? You have been lying to me, letting me think that this pursuit of yours was purposeful, but it’s not, is it? These creatures are what, conquests? Working your way through the universe just for kicks before you die?”

Ghost is not agitated. Ghost is angry, hurt, solemn.

She wasn’t dying, not truly.

No speaking. Keeping this secret. Distraction necessary. Soothing necessary. Hand raises. Invitation.

Ghost understands. “No,” it says. Ghost turns away. “Not right now. I can’t right now.”

_Ghost?_

“I said no. Now leave me alone while I work.” Ghost laughs. Sounds unhappy. Sounds derisive. “Of course, I don’t even know why I’m bothering at this point. Seems like a waste of time considering.”

Standing. Walking. Close, close now. Close enough to touch.

But she wouldn’t. Not first. It was Ghost’s decision.

“I know, I mean, I’ve always known how messed up you were, but I never… I didn’t… I didn’t think you were dying. How foolish of me; I honestly thought you were trying to fix this.”

_Yes._

Ghost turns. It looks… sad. “No, you can’t fix this. I felt it; this thing, whatever it is, is so ingrained with your being that I can’t separate its existence from your own. It is draining you, feeding off your light and everything that gives you life like some sort of parasite. It’s taking you, taking you away from me. I can’t, I can’t lose another…”

It is frightened, irrational.

She knew this, she tried to prevent this. She would soothe it.

 _Come._ Hand raising, beckoning. Time passes.

Finally, Ghost floats slowly forward… and settles. The light flares, bright and hot. It feels good, feels like home.

_Not conquests. Purpose._

She would fix this. She needed the vandal, needed the Fallen. _I don’t understand yet why, but it is truth._ Nothing had changed.

“Everything has changed. Now I know you’re dying and I also know how well you are able to hide that fact. Any minute could be your last and I would never know.”

_No._

She would fix this.

“You can’t promise me that.”

_No._

She couldn’t promise that. But she would try. _For so long, I have resisted. For so long. The vandal makes it easier. With him, she felt like… her._

She remembered things. She felt things. She understood things.

Yes, she would try. She would succeed.

“You feel so certain, but I don’t know how to feel.”

_Trust?_

“You know I do.”

All she had done, all she had been through. She would succeed.

Ghost understands. Ghost knows. _Trust._

Ghost laughs gently. “Are you saying I should know better than to doubt you because of how awesome you are at everything?”

Smiling.

Ghost quiets. Time passes…

“Don’t lie to me; do you really think you can beat this?”

Certainty. _I tried to hide. Unsuccessful. Either way, I’ve pained Ghost. Perhaps, it should know. Monitoring this darkness. Ghost needs this, needs the distraction, needs to feel useful._

She would give it this.

_Ghost?_

“Yes?”

She had many secrets. Most, she couldn’t remember. This, she would not keep this from Ghost.

“What does that mean exactly?”

Ghost would monitor this. She would let it know, let it know when it worsened. And when it lessened. She would let it understand, help it understand.

“Ever since we first met, I have wished for you to stop hiding things from me, but now I understand why you did it. You were worried I would freak out, weren’t you?” Ghost sighs, mood leveling.

Interruption—alarm sounds.

Ghost floats toward console. Head cocks. Alarm is new. Curiosity, purpose.

“It’s a proximity alert. I left a sensor beacon in the hollow the last time we were there so I could keep track of your vandal’s coming and goings.” Its voice is normal. Work always distracts Ghost. Grateful. “He has returned each day,” it continues, “but I thought it better to let you sleep since you were still recovering. I felt how tired you were. Don’t worry though, I sent him a transmission the first day he returned stating that you still needed time to heal and would return when able. Do you wish for me to transmat us to the surface?”

_No._

Ghost turns. It is surprised, confused.

_Tomorrow._

She needed to speak with Ghost.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m honestly surprised you’re choosing this conversation over meeting with your vandal.

_Important._

Ghost stares. Perhaps, evaluating? Strange. _“_ I’ve sent another transmission telling him we will return tomorrow.”

_Tomorrow?_

“Well I actually said ‘following your next patrol.’ Anyways, I think you should start telling me what the hell is going on with you and maybe I can figure out a way to be of more use.”

_Later._

She needed to speak of something else.

_More important._

“More important than this?”

 _Yes._ Quiet, calm, but solemn. _This is necessary. Ghost must know, must understand._

Things would need to happen. Ghost would need to leave. It couldn’t stay. It would be in danger.

She needed to speak of this.

_Contingency._

“Contingency? I don’t understand. What do we need a contingency plan for?”

_Not we._

She had a plan, for Ghost. In case…

…she failed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Next chapter we get more Fallen world-building and some more interactions with our Fallen characters besides Lykrosis.


	24. Closed Mandibles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all my commenters, thank you, thank you. The love you guys show this fic is inspiring and motivating. Speaking of motivation, here’s the latest chapter and I really hope you guys like it. It’s not particularly long, but it is chock-full of hints and little explanations of several plot arcs. Enjoy!

The ship was quiet now, only the soft rise and fall of a long lost, pre-Golden Age symphony playing in the background.

Their conversation had been illuminating, and yet largely depressing. The ghost had received an extremely vague description of what was happening to her, whether that was by design or she really didn’t know what this thing was eating away at her, it couldn’t be sure. Then, it got what it could only describe as an ill-advised attempt to beat this ‘darkness’ as the ghost had come to call it with the lack of a better term. What she considered to be the solution was purely theoretical, based only on the fact that she felt slightly better when sleeping with these creatures.

“That doesn’t even make sense,” it said to itself quietly. The ghost turned abruptly and zipped over to the sofa where the female reclined once again. “I need to take scans!” it said too harshly.

The look she gave it was blank as though she hadn’t noticed its erratic behavior, which she definitely had. Her acquiescence came with a feeling of encouragement and the ghost proceeded with full body scans. The external ones probably would not be very helpful, but it never hurt to gather as much information as possible.

There was a subtle chord of curiosity playing along the periphery of its mind and it knew that it was coming from her, but she remained silent and it refused to comment. She wanted to talk and it wanted to work. Was it throwing itself into this work to avoid acknowledging the proverbial elephant in the room? Yes. Did it care? No.

“I’m finished. I’m going to get these loaded into the computer for analysis and then I’ll bring you your drink. You haven’t eaten since we got back on the ship.” It didn’t wait for a reply. Was it being cowardly? Probably. Did it care? Once again, no. It wasn’t going to be the one to bring up the contingency plan.

If the ghost had its way, neither of them would ever bring it up again.

* * *

Er’tas lie on a set of furs in his shared quarters listening to the conversation unfold around him. He was interested, somewhat, but his mind wandered, distracted by the event that occurred not so many moments ago. He had debated internally many times whether or not he should inform his chosen hunting unit of the occurrence.

“The stealth reaver, the one that knows to keep his mandibles closed,” proclaimed the elder vandal nearest him. Krinicks was the youngest of the elder vandals, hatched just before the Whirlwind. He had never truly known the home planet, a great loss for him, and his fortune had not improved since.

He was a skilled warrior, always emerging from a battle unscathed, and yet he managed to accumulate many crippling injuries throughout his life in absurd accidents. Twice, defective stabilizers had initiated power feedback loops causing shanks to explode within a few ntr of him. The injuries sustained had rendered his left, outer eye non-functioning, his left, inner eye darkened and vision blurred, and damage to his sensory tendrils that affected his targeting capabilities.

Many moments after those incidents, a power surge aboard a skiff had caused the slide mechanism on a door to malfunction and close on his left, upper claw severing two digits. He could no longer use it to grasp weapons and had to compensate by using his lower claw.

And only a few patrols ago, large rocks along the edge of a cliff side he was scouting had shifted unexpectedly crushing his right leg. It had healed, but he would forever have a noticeable limp. The elder vandals frequently joked that the servitors had it in for him and asked him what he had done to enrage them so.

His proclamation was in response to the group’s musings about which reaver would next be promoted to captain as Friksor’s replacement. Loksis spoke up, negating his assertion, “No, he associates often with the lower stealth vandal. It is unbecoming.” Loksis was infamous among their crew, especially among the elder vandals. The actual reasons for this had been lost from memory except by a select few, but these reasons had seen him bestowed the coveted title of Devil Claw by the Kell. His opinion was to be respected.

Already he should have ascended to the rank of reaver and perhaps even captain, but he was passed over at his own request, a notion that was unheard of. All fallen wanted to rank higher. Nonetheless, he was the only vandal below reaver status to be summoned periodically by the captain for reasons he did not share, even with them.

“This is valid. Perhaps the overly aggressive scout. Tyriks would be wise to select an enforcer,” interjected the last member of their group, Vost. The oldest member of the crew and perhaps even the House of Devils, Vost was a mystery. Quiet and reserved, he did not speak often outside of their unit, but like Loksis, his words were respected by all. As was his might.

He was the only vandal in the crew who had never lost a challenge, even against multiple opponents. His size gave him the advantage as he was the largest vandal the crew could boast, his shoulders and chest rivaling that of the captain, but he was also an excellent strategist. Many considered him the only choice for replacing Friksor, but he had yet to be made a reaver for some unknown reason.

The conversation lulled momentarily, an indication that they expected him to interject with his own opinion on the subject. “It matters not,” he said distractedly although the words were well thought out; he had considered this internally many times. “He will kneel to Tyriks in all things.” To share the same class, was not to share the same rank. The other would be an underling, Tyriks’ lesser.

The room grew silent again as they considered his words. When Loksis spoke up, he expected it to be a comment on his assumption, but the other vandal questioned him on a different topic, “Recently you lie quietly often, Er’tas. What distracts your thoughts?”

He had still debated if he would tell them anything up until that point, but with them addressing him directly, Er’tas decided not to censor himself. “When last did any of you have a female?” he asked quietly. The subject of females was a sore point for many elder fallen and some did not take kindly to any reminders of what their species had lost since the arrival of the Great Machine.

“I have never mated a female,” answered Krinicks almost immediately.

“The hatchling conveys this as though it surprises,” jested Vost with an accompanying arm flick, a rare showing of amusement from him. Er’tas could not help his amused trill and their combined mirth filled the room as a clattering of mandibles. All except for Krinicks, who clicked something rude at the older vandal, which only incited more laughter.

Both the initial comment and Krinicks’ foul language alone were enough to incite a challenge between unacquainted fallen, but their unit had been formed many moments in the past. They knew each other well including their sense of humor. Vost was not easily offended and the younger vandal had grown accustomed to small jabs at his youth and misfortune.

After the last of the clicking had fallen away, Loksis spoke up again, “I mated sparingly aboard the Ketch following the exodus.”

“I report the same as Loksis,” replied Vost returning to his reserved demeanor, although the curiosity was evident in his tone.

“Perhaps better asked, a female witnessed since the restriction?” The answer was clear by the quick arm flicks of denial he received from each of them, not that he had suspected otherwise.

“The last report indicates, remaining are House Wolves. Why curious?”

Er’tas moved from his furs to kneel with the other vandals around the decommissioned control console in the center of the room, which they often used as a makeshift table. “Spawned vandal spoke the word ‘female’,” he said, which resulted in a few hisses of surprise. “He did not understand it. I am curious how he was knowledgeable.”

“Answer is obvious. Elder fallen speaking without caution,” clicked Loksis disdainfully at the foolish behavior, especially for elder fallen who knew only too well the risks of such information spreading. If the nuur’khu ever learned of their plight, it could be disastrous not only for the Devils, but for all fallen.

“Your thoughts are misplaced. It matters only, he knows. You are wise to explain to Tyriks this occurrence. He will discover how, punish all involved,” warned Vost.

This was true; already, the lesser vandal had spoken to the reaver. If a dreg overheard the term it would spread through the ranks in a matter of moments as they could never keep their mandibles closed. The more spawned fallen that knew, the harder it would be to manage. They would have to cull. _No, better to control this now._ He would contact the captain’s guard for a meeting following his next patrol.

“Vost is correct,” he finally said as though the conversation had never been interrupted, “Tyriks will select an enforcer. He has no use for other skills.”

And with that comment, the debate was renewed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… did you guys like our little dive into the world of the elder fallen? Anybody catch those hints and think they may know what is going on? Please, please let me know in the reviews as I love hearing your theories. Thanks for reading!


	25. Performance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all my readers and commenters a very big thank you to all of you crazy, awesome people. You stick by me even when it takes way too long to update. Speaking of… I’m not even going to say it. Anyways, here it is and I hope you enjoy it. I wanted this and the next chapter to be a super long, super awesome chapter for you guys, but it didn’t happen. However, I found a good place to break it up into two and the next chapter is already partially written. Yay!

Six days and four trysts later, the female was feeling… disappointed. Oh, she was thrilled with the arrangement they had made with the vandal. In exchange for information she was more than willing to divulge, she got the one thing she insisted was the key to solving her problem. Already, she told it the pain had receded significantly, a testament to the darkness within being held at bay. It was skeptical, but didn’t say anything and just continued to monitor her with daily scans.

Regardless if it was true improvement or not, the ghost liked seeing her happy and the vandal was undoubtedly the cause. She generally just liked interacting with him. Whenever they were together, it could feel the contentedness emanating from her, a light chord of curiosity and amusement edging all of it as she scrutinized every action he took.

No, as far as she was concerned, her situation had never been better; the only problem, the sex wasn’t awesome.

As inexperienced as he was, she didn’t really have high expectations, but other than lasting a bit longer than the first two times, he wasn’t improving. He was focused only on himself and completely inattentive to her needs almost as though she wasn’t even there, not to mention it was over so quickly. Consequently, she was left wanting after each encounter, which was not exactly what she was expecting from the male she was so certain was ‘The One’.

So she had sat on her thinking perch, or the sofa as it was more commonly referred, and tried to devise a solution to her little problem. Silence and stillness had ensued.

The ghost had excused itself from this situation entirely as it wasn’t exactly qualified to help with sexual matters and really didn’t want to anyways. Besides, it was fairly certain the issue was once again because the Fallen were more intelligent than the other species she had been with. Conversation was usually the last thing on any of the males’ minds, but each time the vandal came to the hollow, it got the feeling he cared more about the information than the sex.

The conversation itself was relatively mundane by the ghost’s standards, but that was purposeful; it was trying to give out as little information as possible concerning the Last City and the guardians. Instead it mostly spoke of the humans and their customs, and it taught the vandal various Earth concepts, particularly the passage of time and how they measured it. He asked questions, mostly for clarification, but the vandal remained reserved and never volunteered any information about the Fallen, not that it expected otherwise.

One improvement that the ghost had noticed was that the vandal seemed to have calmed down a bit. His movements had grown easier and less defensive like he no longer expected to be attacked at any moment. He had also stopped issuing warning growls at every action the female took. He still maintained a certain distance from them until he was ready to mate and his shock blades were never out of reach, but it was progress nonetheless.

Sudden movement on the periphery of its vision caught its attention. The female was back in the present it seemed, and judging by the resolute feeling coming across, she had decided on a course of action. That was followed immediately by the desire to return to the planet’s surface.

_Down._

“Yes, I’ve gathered that. First,” it said as it left the console and floated to her, “why don’t you tell me this plan you’ve just concocted so I can determine how likely it is to cause trouble?” To that it received an amused smile and a reminder that it didn’t want to know anything about her sex life. “You’re right, I don’t… but you better tell me anyways.”

And she proceeded to do just that.

…

By the time she finished explaining the plan, which somehow the ghost was featured in quite prominently, she was literally grinning from ear to ear.

The ghost was quiet for a few moments and then it just sighed; today was going to be a long day.

* * *

The pair were already waiting in the hollow when Lykrosis arrived, the nuur’az hovering in the far corner while the female lounged atop one of the many boulders. Upon noticing his arrival, the creature dismounted the rock and was directly in front of him in one quick movement.

It was so abrupt, his instinctual response was to back track and raise his blades with a warning growl.

Its only reaction to his warning was a broad smile. Backing up a step, it knelt on the ground seemingly content to begin their usual conversation.

“You will have to excuse her,” said the nuur’az floating forward to a respectable distance, “She is in a particularly good mood today. Anyways, I have additional details on Pre-Golden Age architecture if you would like to start where we left off last time.”

Lykrosis did not know what ‘excuse her’ meant nor why the female was in a good mood, but he ignored it and clicked his mandibles together in denial at the latter half of the nuur’az statement, “I wish to discuss mating.”

“Really? Okay,” and he did not miss the way the pair glanced quickly at each other. The movement almost seemed as though they were surprised by his choice of topics.

Lykrosis wasn’t sure if he was interpreting that incorrectly or if he was correct, why they would be surprised, but having mated the female multiple times now, there were details about the act he wanted to understand. Specifically, he had noticed distinct differences between their mating and that of the female and the sdee’al. “What purpose serves the liquid?”

“I think I’m going to regret asking this, but… which liquid are you referring to?

“Female mates sdee’al, liquid appears on flesh.”

“Hm, certainly not where I thought we were headed,” it said at a barely audible level.

The words didn’t seem to be directed at him, or at the creature for that matter, more so just spoken to the air. Lykrosis had witnessed it do this frequently and was now almost certain that the nuur’az was speaking aloud… to itself, which was beyond strange. Why would it bother to relay internal thoughts if it did not expect a reply?

“That liquid is called ‘perspiration’. I don’t know if you are familiar with the term, but it’s part of her body’s homeostatic mechanisms.”

“Unfamiliar, ‘ho’eosstatic’.”

“Homeostasis means that a creature’s body has to maintain certain internal conditions to keep itself alive. In this case, the body uses perspiration to maintain a constant internal temperature. When the female’s body gets warmer than normal for a certain amount of time, it cools itself down by secreting the liquid, which moves from her skin to the air and takes excess heat with it.”

This concept was… fascinating, if it was truth. Fallen did not have such a process. Their bodies could function within a large internal temperature range and it was affected by external factors only. Perhaps, this explained why the creature’s flesh was always so warm to the touch. That thought prompted another question from him, “The female controls this process?”

“No, it happens automatically.”

“This has no logic,” he admonished. “This ‘rs’sration’ does not occur, I mate the female.”

“Uh, well her body does heat some just from the act of mating, but it heats much more when it is… working harder.”

 _Working harder?_ The nuur’az implied the female performed more work and consequently became warmer while mating the sdee’al than him. _Perhaps the chosen position,_ he wondered. The creature had been more active when the sdee’al knelt behind it than it was when it lie in front of him, but this did not explain their first mating when it moved exclusively. Perhaps then the fact that the sdee’al mated the female for many more moments than he did. This seemed more likely. “Answer is acceptable. What causes the female to vocalize?” He liked the creature’s moans and screams. They were prey sounds and elicited much desire within him when he watched the display previously, but it had not made such vocalizations while mating him.

“Vocalize? Oh, you mean like—right. She vocalizes when mating feels really good. It’s a sign the male is performing well because the sounds are mostly incoherent and unbidden; like the female is so overwhelmed she’s forced to express it aloud.”

Lykrosis grew still and did not reply. He understood the implication of the nuur’az words. “Why the female does not finish?”

The nuur’az turned toward the creature and said quietly in their own language, “Wow, he is really trying to kill me with these questions.”

The statement caused the creature to smile and Lykrosis, who was learning to better read these ‘facial expressions’, was almost certain it was amused. He did not like that. Combined with the earlier implications, he concluded the pair were amused by him and his attempts at mating, which were apparently deficient. He let out an involuntary growl with his growing anger.

The pair faced him again, the creature’s smile fading probably with the understanding of his change in demeanor.

He rumbled out, “Your amusement, unappreciated.”

The nuur’az dropped lower to the ground and nearer its partner as it said, “We apologize,” in its own language before switching back to E’lik, “I talk too much and probably make too many sarcastic comments for my own good, but the mirth was not directed at you.”

“What means this, ‘a’ologize’?”, he growled out again, further angered by the nuur’az use of words he did not understand.

“To apologize… It’s like—hmm, how to explain this? It’s acknowledging that you said or did something wrong to another and you are regretful that you did it. I can’t find a direct translation for this to E’lik. How do you say this in your language?”

Lykrosis anger stalled, at least momentarily, as he considered this new concept, which sounded completely foolish to him. He had never heard of admitting being offensive out loud especially not to another, much less expressing regret. If one was offended, they would challenge the other for the offense and it mattered only who won. _Hu’ins survive expressing such weakness,_ he thought with disdain. “Fallen do not a’ologize,” he said and released a hiss of ether by-product to show his distaste for the idea.

“That’s not actually surprising. Nonetheless, we do and it’s also a human thing as well. Anyways, as for your original question, females generally find it harder to finish and require more time to do so than males. They ne—”

“You imply deficiencies, I mate the female,” he stated, anger still present and apparent in the words.

“What? I never said that!”

“Imply,” he repeated as he knew the nuur’az had not stated this explicitly. “The female does not vocalize, she does not feel good. The female does not work hard, does not finish, the mating does not last enough moments. The sdee’al pleases the female. I mate the female, not pleasing.”

“No. Well… yes and no. It does feel good for her when you mate, she just needs more. Look, I have no idea how mating really works since I don’t exactly have the parts to do so, but I am told it is more difficult than it appears to be. There is skill involved or something. The sdee’al has mated many more times than you, so it is logical that he would be better at mating than you right now. However, the female does want to continue mating with you and would like to show you how to mate… more proficiently if you will allow it?”

Lykrosis considered this. If mating was a skill, then it could be perfected through practice and repetition. He cared not that the female was not pleased as he only agreed to the mating because the sensations were pleasant for him. However, in not being pleased, it followed that the cause was his performance and that was unacceptable. Fallen lower ranks had to prove their worth in all things, which meant showing competency in all skills they acquired and this was no different. His pride and instinct would not allow him to knowingly be inadequate and he would especially not allow himself to be bested by one of the Zkr K’ Rav.

No, he would agree to this and learn to please the female.

_I will make the female scream._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG! The next chapter is going to be so good. I know, the anticipation is killing me as well. Gah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Alas, it will be a little while longer, but what did you guys think of this chapter? Anybody think they know what our femme’s plan is and why Ghost would be involved in it?
> 
> Btw, I think I stated this some time or another, but I’ve taken the nickname ‘Spider Pirates’ and what we canonically know of the Fallen to infer that they are insect/arachnid-like. The temperature regulation reference in there is the nonexplicit way of saying they are poikilotherms. 
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur'az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> Sdee'al-Hive Knight  
> Zkr K' Rav-literally means to be of necrosis and decay. This is what Fallen call the Hive.


	26. Breach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Lovelies! Quick chapter for you guys. I know I said the continuation of last chapter would be next, but its taking a while, so I’m giving you this chapter first, which was actually the first scene of the intended much larger chapter. It works by itself and it has some more plot and Fallen worldbuilding, so here you go and look for the next chapter soon! (Hopefully. It is more than halfway done already.)

A darkened expanse of hollowed out rock made up the walls of his private lab. Cold and bare like the rest of the cave system, they were a constant reminder of all he had lost, a symbol of the warmth no longer present in his life. The banner of House Devils was proudly strewn high across the back wall behind him, but that did not make the room feel any less deprived. So many moments ago, he would have looked down on other Fallen living this way; he was a baron after all, but these conditions were now commonplace.

The room was large given the limited space they had within the caves and generously lit. Low light levels were not an issue for his keen eyes, but even so, the meticulous engineering and experimenting he performed here required better visibility; thus, the energy tubes highlighting every ntr’k of the room. Worktops and shelves were neatly arranged off to his left as were the tools, equipment, and parts stacked on top of them. Off to his right was a console giving him access to the archive, communications, and the cave’s alert system, which he had set up to quickly blast throughout the complex in case an enemy managed to penetrate the caves. There were two doors leading out of the room; the one behind and to the right led to his private quarters and the one directly ahead to the rest of the cave system.

Tyriks sat behind a worktop set in the center of the room and recalibrated a teleportation module housed in the right helm fin he had stripped from a destroyed Fallen captain. He was trying to improve distance and directionality of their teleporters, which was at this point limited. The mechanism was difficult to work with as any modifications could disrupt the consecutive events that must take place to scan, destroy, and reassemble one’s sub-atomic makeup. He would first have to try it on other objects and living organisms before he could use it on himself.

A ping on his comm. link interrupted his work and he growled in irritation. The guard outside his door was requesting permission to enter. Tyriks set down his tools and straightened into a more dignified sitting position before tapping his comm. link to issue his approval.

The door in front slid open admitting the vandal, who moved just far enough into the room for the doors to whoosh closed behind him. He inclined his helm in respect immediately and said, “Captain Tyriks,” before stilling and waiting to be acknowledged.

“Speak,” he clicked not bothering to hide his annoyance at the interruption.

“Captain, vandal requests audience.”

“Why?” he asked curious now as a lesser Fallen requesting permission to speak with him was not a common occurrence.

The vandal paused for a moment seemingly thinking about the answer, and then said quietly, “I did not ask.”

Tyriks let out a low growl, patience wearing thin at the incompetence. “Find out!” he ordered harshly. The other Fallen hastily left the room, which prompted the captain to silently consider his latest choice of guard. This one was worse than the last. How could he not find three competent vandals to perform such an easy task? _Perhaps I should select elder Fallen over spawned,_ he mused.

The vandal reentered the room and Tyriks noticed its lower arms were both twitching in apparent rage. “Vandal refuses to speak. He says topic is not for Fallen… like me,” he said spitting out the words with venom.

“He is elder?” he asked understanding the implication.

“Yes.”

“Send him in. Wait outside.”

The vandal gave an indignant arm flick before exiting as though he could not believe he was told to wait outside. Tyriks felt a rare flare of amusement; spawned Fallen were so ignorant.

Soon after the first departed, another vandal entered his lab, and it was immediately apparent that he was elder. This vandal was taller than the spawned variety, lither of frame and longer of arms and claws. The eyes were larger and a lighter blue, closer to his own almost white ones. The armor had the lustrous shine that came from obsessive cleaning, but underneath it was old and worn. However, Tyriks knew it was impeccable in its construction. Made from the finest metals of their home world, it was superior to anything that could be scrounged and assembled in this star system.

The vandal’s carriage was confident and assured as he moved farther into the room than the other had dared. “Captain.”

“Name?”

“Er’tas.”

 _Er’tas…_ He knew that designation; this vandal hunted with Loksis. “You speak of old?” he asked certain this would be the only reason to withhold information from his guard.

“Yes.”

Tyriks gestured for him to speak in full; the past was a topic not brought up lightly as no Fallen wanted to be reminded of the disgrace that had befallen their entire race.

“Restriction is threatened. Spawned vandal speaks of females.”

His previously fading irritation raged back in full force; he did not need this right now! Already Friksor had been lost and with him the crew’s viability. Their status was threatened unless a suitable replacement could be found and now he must split his efforts between that and discovering the cause of this breach of information. He would have to punish or destroy all involved before it spread amongst the ranks. His crew would not be the start of another cull. They could not afford it and he would not bear such dishonor and humiliation. “Explain to me this occurrence,” he ordered anger coloring his vocals.

Tyriks listened intently while the elder vandal explained the event that had occurred between the spawned vandal and the reaver in the waste disposal area. The explanation was short as had been the conversation between the two, and when he was finished, the captain dismissed the elder with a practiced wave. “Your loyalty and intelligence are remarked upon by Loksis, Devil Claw. This matter requires prompt attention; your role in it is noted.” With that said, the vandal inclined his helm once more and withdrew from the lab.

Alone again, Tyriks considered this situation fully; it would need to be handled carefully and quietly. Neither vandal, it appeared, were familiar with the term, which was fortuitous, and even the reaver’s suggestion to consult the archive was not bothersome. The data core had been sanitized at the lower ranks’ access levels. The only threat here was the spread of the word and further conversations on the topic.

This reaver, Kreesis, was exceptional for being spawned and he was one of a few being considered to replace Friksor. It would not do to destroy him unless absolutely necessary. The other would normally be expendable, but there was too much flux in the crew at the moment; they needed all the remaining vandals they had.

Tyriks would assess the extent of the damage first and react accordingly. He tapped his comm. link again and sent a transmission to his guard to send for the reaver, Kreesis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always comments are much loved and thanks for reading! FYI, many of you may have seen that I posted a Destiny drabbles fic. I do not intend for it to distract from my work on this fic, but every once and awhile I need a break and to get my mind on something else. So, if you’re interested in Destiny drabbles and one-shots, I recommend it especially between updates of this fic. Topics vary and I’m taking requests on it, although there is no promised timeline on completing those.
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Ntr’k-measure of length. It is equivalent to about a centimeter.


	27. The Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies! I know, too long, but I’m trying. Anyways, so I meant to ask last chapter, what did you guys think of Tyriks? I know it was a quick intro, but he will become prominent in this story and I’m just curious about everyone’s first reactions.   
> Guess what? We finally got there. Good, sexy smut! (Well hopefully you guys think so :) There is a bunch of talking in there and some awkwardness because I had to keep it realistic, but otherwise… some good stuff.
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-Interspecies sex, consensual sex, heterosexual sex

After agreeing to the creature’s proposition, Lykrosis knelt to indicate the conversation portion of their meeting was over and it could approach him for mating. This change in their routine did not please him as he preferred to control their interactions, but if it was to show him how to mate more proficiently, he would have to allow this. However, watching it crawl toward him, each movement slow and calculated, he already felt the first stirrings of familiar reticence.

The creature ended in a kneeling position mirroring his own as close to him as it could be without touching. Just as it had that first time, it lifted both its claws and placed them lightly against his chest armor.

Lykrosis instinctively tensed at the touch.

The movement had been slight, but no doubt the creature had felt it because it did not proceed any further.

“You must try to relax,” the nuur’az said drawing his attention. “You are always expecting an attack, but we have no intention of doing so.”

“I allow the female’s touch,” he said, silently scoffing at the idea he should not be ready for an attack.

“Yes, but you view her touch adversely, not as something pleasing.”

“It pleases me, the female touches my waste organ,” he replied directly.

The nuur’az made a strange, blunt noise before it continued, “Yes, I’m sure it does. Well, if you relax, she can make touching other parts of your body pleasing too.”

Nothing was so sensitive as his waste organ so Lykrosis remained skeptical of the nuur’az suggestion, but he kept that to himself. When the little machine failed to speak further, he returned his attention to the creature.

Its claws had remained still during their conversation, but now began to stroke through the folds of his cloak, simply feeling. He remembered this action from their first mating and similarly this time it also seemed to please the creature as evidenced by its smiling.

Lithe digits skittered back and forth between his chestplate and the fabric, lingering here and there. When they moved high up on his shoulders and hovered for several moments over the clasps on his cloak he became suspicious. The subsequent click confirmed his suspicions immediately; the creature was trying to decloak him! His upper claws shot to its joints, grabbing them and halting further attempts to remove his fabric while the lower claws pressed shock blades into its sides.

“Relax!” the nuur’az shouted instantly at his movement. “She wishes to take your cloak and some of your armor off.”

Neither he nor the creature moved. Only the quiet slide of his cloak falling off his shoulders to the dry soil below gave life to the hollow and that simple action angered him further. “No,” he replied his tone laced with threats as he moved its claws away from his shoulders and down in between their bodies.

“She wants to touch you.”

“The female already touches.”

“She wants to touch your body, your skin.”

“No.”

“It’s part of mating; both partners’ skin should touch. She removes her own clothing for this purpose.”

“No,” he clicked in finality. Lykrosis was well aware of what mating entailed at this point and there was no need to remove his protective armor. If the creature chose to leave itself so vulnerable, then that was its own foolishness, but he would not do the same.

“Rrgh… this is never going to work!” the nuur’az said forcefully, and although it still spoke E’lik, he was certain it was speaking to the creature. “He is never going to relax enough for you to mate with him properly.”

Lykrosis wasn’t sure if it had wanted him to know what it had said or if in its frustration, it had forgot to hide its words in their own language. If the latter, perhaps he could use that to his advantage in the future to get more information out of the pair, but either way, the statements were… curious.

He didn’t understand what they wanted from him. He allowed the creature to touch him even if the idea did not enthuse him and he touched it in return when required during the mating. Why did it matter if he was not relaxed as the nuur’az said?

The creature gave a small tug and he released its claws, letting it go. It settled backwards on its haunches, cocking its head to the side as if in contemplation. After a few moments, it turned toward the nuur’az and they proceeded to have a conversation, this time the little machine remembering to switch back to their own language, “No, he is frustrating… I am aware… You think that approach will work… I think you are being overly optimistic… Of course, I’ll do it. I already agreed to help you with this. Besides, how could I deny you your fun… No, not screwing the vandal; the enjoyment you get embarrassing the shit out of me.”

A broad smile took over the female’s features. The conversation must have ended after that because it turned back toward him. It lifted up again, but its claws went for his groin this time and he allowed it. It worked open the panels of his bio-suit, drawing out his quickly lengthening shaft. The creature squeezed firmly at the base causing Lykrosis to let out a quiet trill of pleasure, which doubled as an encouragement for more. The female obliged him, slowly stroking up and down. Its digits caught on each ridged edge causing jolts of sensation and a rush of heat straight to his groin.

 _This_. This was a sensation he would never tire of. Every time the creature first touched him, there was an intense jarring of pleasure. That feeling quickly quieted, leaving behind a low but constant chord of pleasant sensation stemming from his erection and spreading outward through his entire body.

Not many moments after, the first stirrings of pressure began. Heat surged through him as the pulse of his lifeblood quickened with each stroke and flick of the creature’s digit across his sensitive tip. It all slowly built from there reaching ever upward towards that coveted height.

 _Yesss. So close._ He could feel it; the intensity, the overwhelming pressure in his groin. His eyes kept falling closed unbidden with each jolt, and then flashing open as he warred with his uncooperative body. His respiration grew quick and short, a trill of ecstasy just moments from escaping him. _Almost_ —and then all the sensation cut out. Lykrosis growled at the loss, his eyes flashing open again.

The creature was still just as close, still staring at him, but it no longer touched.

“The first thing to understand about mating,” said the nuur’az, and he was only just realizing that it had stayed instead of zipping off as it normally did during the display, “is that you should try not to finish.”

“Why? Sensations are most pleasant during climax,” he asked not bothering to hide the frustration in his voice. Why had the creature stopped touching him? The blissful pressure had been so close and now it was slowly receding much to his dissatisfaction.

“Exactly. The point of mating is for both the male and female to feel good and enjoy the act. Every time you finish too quickly, she does not get to, so if you try not to finish, the mating will last long enough for her to climax as well. Additionally, females can generally have multiple climaxes and are ready to continue mating whereas males are often finished after just the one. If you want to compare this with the sdee’al, he usually makes her climax at least twice before he finishes.”

Lykrosis bristled at the mention of the sdee’al; he did not need the little machine to remind him of its superiority over him in mating. These assertions held logic; he had already surmised himself that the duration of the mating was the reason the female did not vocalize and finish. However, the sensations were overwhelming. How was he supposed to avoid finishing too quickly, particularly when he didn’t want to avoid it?

“Also, the female tells me that the climax is better and more intense when you hold it off longer.”

 _…more intense?_ That peaked his interest. Lykrosis could hardly imagine how the mating could be even better. If it was truth, perhaps delaying his climax would not be as dissatisfying as he originally thought. However, he still wasn’t certain how to go about doing so.

He needn’t have put thought to it; the nuur’az supplied him with the answer as though it knew what he was thinking. “So, if you feel like you are getting close to finishing, then the best thing to do is halt all movement. Once you have calmed down a bit, you can start moving again.”

Once again, the advice was logical. Without the creature stroking him, the pressure of his impending climax had quickly faded away although he still desired it. A quick realization hit him with that thought. “Female demonstrates?” he asked certain he was correct about the situation that had just occurred.

“Yes.”

Lykrosis didn’t say it aloud, but this was an intelligent approach. He never would have stopped voluntarily and he understood the nuur’az words far better coupled with the creature’s actions prior. “This is acceptable. Demonstrate more,” and his arm flicked unconsciously in a command for it to proceed with whatever its next action would be.

Much to his surprise, the female reached out and grasped his erection firmly again. It didn’t start slow as it normally did, but immediately stroked vigorously up and down his length.

The shock of sensation elicited a short warble from him and a clattering of mandibles. His hips bucked involuntarily and caused the creature’s claw to slam into his groin. The contact pushed down on the flesh below his shaft and elicited a pleasure so intense he almost finished right there. “Klk,” he said, the rarely used profanity coming out instinctually.

The creature must have noticed how affected he was because the movement slowed considerably. The rough stroking changed to a smooth, sluggish glide. After a few moments, the overwhelming pressure leveled off, the claw moving much too slowly for him to finish.

Just as before, the creature somehow knew exactly what was happening in his body and that he was ready for more stimulation again. The pace increased slightly and became the rhythmic movement he was familiar with. First a squeeze near the base, then a slide and twist as it stroked up the shaft, and finally a quick swipe of its digit across the tip. As with everything the creature did, it was tightly controlled and perfectly fluid.

 _Its claw feels so good,_ he thought languidly, unwilling to admit it aloud even as his helm fell backwards in pleasure.

The female kept him on edge. Its pace adjusted based on how close he was, slowing down whenever his climax was almost upon him and then speeding back up when he had calmed down. It was simultaneously the most frustrating and yet blissful thing he had ever felt.

“The female asks if you like her clothing,” said the nuur’az abruptly.

“What… means this?” he asked barely able to concentrate.

Slowing its movements considerably, the female sat back on its haunches again. The movement changed again as it just barely continued to stroke him. It was enough to keep up the stimulation and consequently his desire, but not enough to steal his clarity of mind.   

“She wants to know if you like her clothing. Do you like the way it looks?”

“You ask strange questions,” he replied with another arm flick, this one of incredulity. Lykrosis surveyed the creature again, this time scrutinizing this ‘clothing’ that it wore. It was the one-piece suit colored in the same bright crimson as the House of Devils’ heraldry he had seen it adorn before. The fabric was tight, accentuating the shape of the female’s form and only covered it down to mid-thigh. It also did nothing to protect the underlying flesh, the material being so thin and not overlaid with harder armor. “It is impractical,” he scoffed.

“Is that all?”

At the tail end of its words, movement from the female’s claws drew his attention. The right one left his shaft and joined the other, digits lightly trailing across its own thighs. Gentle scrapes and tugs played at the edges of the clothing, pulling at the fabric and giving him the smallest glimpses of more flesh.

“The color pleases me,” Lykrosis finally admitted, although he wasn’t quite sure why.

“She says that is good because she picked it just for you.”

“What means this?” he asked again although his gaze was still focused on the creature’s claws. They now grasped the fabric, and oh so slowly, began to slide upwards while he watched dragging the suit with them. The movement was controlled, intentional. The higher its claws moved, the more flesh that was exposed to his eyes, and the further entranced he became.

It held no logic, but that simple movement flooded him with even more desire. His mind was overcome with anticipation like he was on the verge of a hunt. The creature’s flesh, he knew, was supple and so warm. His claws flexed ready to grasp and dig into it as he had many times previously. The shining, white expanse of its thighs called to his baser instincts. He had an overwhelming urge to bite into that flesh, sink his mandibles and teeth in and taste the sweet, sweet lifeblood. His groin clenched at his own thoughts, erection throbbing painfully with his want to mate the female. 

“Crimson is the color of your house. She figured you would like it.”

Lykrosis meant to respond, but he was too preoccupied with following the female’s progress.

The suit was pulled off its hips and up the toned flesh of its abdomen before finally being lifted over its head where it was dropped absentmindedly to the soil.

He was surprised to find it wearing additional clothing underneath the suit. There was the tiny piece of fabric that covered the area between its legs, which he had witnessed before, but there was another piece he was not familiar with. It was larger and wrapped around the creature’s upper body cradling the mounds. Both were made of roughly textured, black fabric that stood in stark contrast to its bright, white flesh.

The female’s claws moved behind its back at the same level as the upper clothing and after a moment, it loosened with a tiny click. Like the suit, the female drew it off and let it fall to the ground.

Being that the creature had just uncovered them, his focus was drawn to the mounds, which he had not seen since their first mating, and he took a moment to scrutinize them. They were large and round, the same color as the rest of its flesh except for slightly darker areas at the center. Lykrosis was curious about their intended purpose, but he was more interested in the area between its legs at the moment.

“The female likes to be touched on most parts of her body,” said the nuur’az, “but she has two erogenous zones that are much more sensitive than the rest of her skin. The first being her breasts, which are the mounds of flesh located on her chest. They are responsive to touch as well as temperature change and are particularly sensitive around the nipple, which are the centered, darker areas. The second you are more familiar with, which is the area between her legs, but it is infinitely more complex than it seems, or so I’m told,” and the nuur’az turned toward the creature momentarily, who responded with a smile of amusement.

“There are two main parts: the outside, which consists of folds surrounding a central nub of flesh, and the inside. This nub and a certain spot on the inside are inundated with sensitive nerve endings like your shaft. Rubbing and putting pressure on these two areas will elicit pleasure in her and are the key to making her climax.”

After the nuur’az finished explaining, the creature lifted up high on its knee joints and hooked its digits under the straps holding its only remaining clothing on.

Lykrosis’ upper claws shot out for the second time, grabbing its wrists and halting the movement he figured was coming next. “I will do it,” he growled out, desire and the need to be in control overriding reticence. He couldn’t explain it, but he just wanted to touch the female.

It removed its claws from his loosened grip and tentatively moved them to his shoulders seemingly steadying itself.

At that moment, the female’s large eyes focused on his own, Lykrosis finally, finally detected a rush of pheromones. _That scent,_ he thought, an audible groan escaping him. That perfect scent, the one meant to entice and excite, the one that had originally drew him in and made him keep coming back for more. He hadn’t even realized until now that he hadn’t detected that scent since their first mating. He wanted to consider why that may be, but right now, he just didn’t care.

Lykrosis ran his claws along the smooth expanse of the female’s hips, allowing the covered digits to press hard into the flesh. The creature’s warmth bled through his bio-suit and just for a moment, he considered removing his gauntlets. He wanted to feel that heat unhindered and dig his actual claws into the soft flesh. Instead, he caught the thin straps holding the fabric on with his digits and began pulling it down. Reaching its knee joints, he pulled each side underneath one at a time as the creature lifted up for him.

The female’s right claw flowed down the length of his arm, dragging across the back of his claw, before grabbing the clothing and pulling it all the way off.

Lykrosis returned his grip to its hips, not quite sure what to do next, but feeling… eager nonetheless.

The creature took hold of his left, lower claw and pulled it in between them before pausing.

“The female asks if you are willing to remove the gauntlet on this claw.”

Lykrosis wanted to refuse instinctually, but he had thought that same thing himself not but a moment ago. Also, as much as he liked the feel of the heat coming through the bio-suit on his upper claws, he could only image how good it would feel to directly contact it with the flesh of his sensitive, lower claws. “This is acceptable,” he said trying to stay composed although he just wanted to proceed already.

His armor was easy enough for the female to remove, but instead of proceeding, it stared at his exposed flesh for a few moments and then flicked its gaze to the nuur’az.

“Oh, I see what you mean,” the little machine said in E’lik obviously responding to whatever the female had said to it. “The sensitive areas I mentioned before are thin-skinned and can be torn easily. Try to use the length of your digits as opposed to the sharper tips. When you are trying to stimulate her, use different techniques like more pressure versus less and faster versus slower. Other than that, you’ll have to figure out what works best and she will let you know what she likes.”

The creature pulled his now unadorned claw forward and guided it between its legs. Its own claws returned to his shoulders seemingly allowing him to ‘figure out what works’ as the nuur’az had put it.

Immediately, the overwhelming heat enveloped his sensitive flesh and oh, how good it felt. His other claws dug further into its hips, a growl escaping him with his fervor. Without the ability to see much of the female’s anatomy and only the nuur’az explanation to inform him, Lykrosis would have to increase his understanding tactilely.

He pushed his shortest digit between the external folds finding the flesh to be even softer and surprisingly, wet. The makeup was rather simple and he easily located the central nub the little machine had referred to. He pressed down on it, but there was no noticeable change in the creature’s expression, body, or scent in response to the contact. He was disappointed at the reaction; how sensitive could it be if it did not produce any indication the female even felt his touch?

Lykrosis pushed down harder figuring it may require further stimulation, but the creature flinched and he felt it shifting away from him, trying to relieve the pressure. He backed off and changed his method, rubbing back and forth across the nub instead. There didn’t seem to be any response from that action either, but after several moments, he noticed a minute change.

Lithe claws flexed against his shoulder armor and there was a slight change in the creature’s respiration rate.

 _So, it is affected._ Lykrosis continued his efforts, flicking his digit even faster across its body. The change was not rapid, but the more moments that passed, the more detectable the signs of its pleasure became. There were tiny shudders that sporadically passed through its form. The respiration became heavier and its digits flexed repetitively, digging into the surface of his armor. The evidence of its excitement grew, that perfect scent surrounding them more fully, and its eyes finally fell shut.

It wasn’t many moments later when there was another distinct change. The female’s hips started to move. It alternately pressed harder against his digit and then backed off, seemingly enjoying short bursts of increased pressure.

Lykrosis had assumed the newest change would mark another period of movement, but he had been wrong. With only a few more strokes of his digit, he finally saw pleasure overtake its features.

The female’s claws tightened around his shoulder armor and the first moan escaped it. There were only a few, short and breathy, but they were accompanied by a full body tremor. This lasted only for a moment or two before its entire body pulled away from him hard enough that he released his grasp on its hips, and one of the creature’s own claws pushed his out from between its legs.

The reaction was perplexing.

He knew he had been pleasuring it; he was familiar with the expression from when it mated the sdee’al. However, it clearly no longer wanted to be touched. Perhaps he had unknowingly injured it. Lykrosis looked to his left to find the nuur’az still there although not actively paying attention to them. “What happened?” he asked gaining its attention.

“What do you mean?” it asked floating back toward them.

“The female, desires not to be touched.”

“She’s just hyper-sensitive after climaxing; the lightest stimulation can be too much, even painful sometimes. Just give her a minute or so to recover.”

 _The female finished?_ That was not the expected explanation. This reaction and that of its former climaxes differed considerably. Lykrosis found himself dissatisfied again. All the pleasure signs had been minimal and he desired to hear the female scream and cry out. This indicated he had still failed to please the female adequately as the nuur’az had previously stated its vocalizations were directly linked to the male’s performance.

The situation was frustrating enough that he gave voice to thoughts he normally would have retained. “The female’s climax differs. She,” he said trying to familiarize himself further with this word, “is less pleased?”

“No. The two spots are both sensitive, but they lead to climaxes that vary in intensity. The internal spot is more difficult to locate, and consequently stimulate, but it will cause a much more intense reaction both as you rub against it and when she finishes. That does not mean that the other is less desired though. Trust me, from the feelings I am getting right now, she very much enjoyed the one you just gave her.”

As if to reinforce the nuur’az words, the creature finally started to open its eyes, albeit sluggishly. Its smile came on just as slowly and the whole expression seemed content. It reminded him of the satiation he felt after each time he finished.

True to the nuur’az words yet again, the female did not seem ‘finished’ at all. It moved back toward him, closer even than before, and grasped his shaft. It stroked him a few times, bringing his slightly waning erection back to its full length.

Lykrosis expected it to continue the pleasing stroking, but it surprised him with its next action.

Unlike all the times they had previously mated, it did not lie back against the dirt. Instead, it backed up about a ntr and flipped over onto its claws and knee joints, displaying itself to him. The female looked at him over its shoulder just for a moment and then lowered its upper body to the ground.

It was… submitting.

A trill erupted from him, harsh and loud. The position stirred some feeling within, exciting him. He felt dominating and that carnal desire tore through him, veiling his thoughts and pulling from him a basic, instinctual need. In that moment, he did not want anything but to dig his claws into the creature’s warm flesh and bury his shaft inside it.

Lykrosis quickly covered the small distance it had created between them and did just that. His claws grasped it, the uppers around its slim waist and one of the lowers at its hip. The last claw he used to guide his shaft in between its legs. Without pausing, he pushed forward while simultaneously pulling the female back toward him and slid in all the way to the hilt.

His entire shaft was surrounded by tight, wet heat and nothing had ever felt better. Somehow, the female seemed even hotter and wetter than it had previously and Lykrosis was losing himself in that feeling. He had enough clarity left to quickly think through each mating between the female and sdee’al so he could use the scenes to inform his movements, and then he moved.

Lykrosis dragged his hips backwards instead of trying to move the female’s body. He pulled out until just the tip was inside of it and then thrust forward moving all the way back in. He repeated the action over again, and then again and again, until he was able to find an easy rhythm. The entire movement was finally, finally smooth and the feeling… unadulterated bliss.

Growling and trilling filled the hollow; it felt good, everything felt so good: the heat burning its way into him where his claws touched it, the feel of its wet sheath gripping his shaft, and the smooth glide of flesh on flesh as he moved in and out.

The pace he had set was as slow as he was willing to go in an effort not to climax too quickly, but still the pressure built. There was nothing he could do, it just felt too good. His pace quickened as the pressure grew, his thrusts coming faster and faster as he approached climax. He wanted it. He wanted to reach that coveted height and feel the ecstasy as it rolled through him. _Yesss…_ Close, he was close—and the creature yanked itself away from him dislodging his erection from its body completely.

Lykrosis could not contain his angered growl. He had been so close. He did not want to be denied and pulled the creature back towards him intending to bury himself inside it again.

The female twisted around and placed one of its claws gently against his chest plate. It was completely flat and a clear indication that it wanted him to stop.

His growling intensified, exasperation growing, but he complied. He removed his claws from its body, remaining completely still and the pressure frustratingly faded away.

When he remained still for enough moments, he assumed the creature understood his intent because it finally moved.

It returned to its original position, but one of its claws reached between its own legs and position him at its entrance. Then it raised up, braced itself firmly against the ground, and slammed backwards onto his shaft, hard. Their hips smacked together loudly and a feeling of bliss shot through him.

Lykrosis warbled sharply from the intense spike of pleasure and for the first time, the creature cried out for him. That sound caused a hard clenching in his groin and he ached with want.

The female dragged its hips forward frustratingly slow, pausing for what felt like forever with his tip just barely inside, and then crushed itself backwards again. A pleasured groan escaped him and the female cried out again, loud and sharp, which only succeeded in riling him up further.

One more time it repeated this action and then he lost all his patience. He was beyond excited and his desire could not burn any hotter. Lykrosis grabbed it again, all his claws digging in. The unadorned lower claw tore into its flesh releasing trails of lifeblood and he slammed himself inside harder than the female ever could have managed on its own.

The resulting sounds of pleasure from them both spurred him on. He pulled all the way out and then jerked his hips forward, maintaining the slow, crushing pace the creature had set.

Two more thrusts and the female’s cries devolved into a continuous, low moaning while its pheromone output slowly rose.

The scent was already pulling at him, but the more moments that passed, the stronger it grew and the more he wanted to just drive himself inside as fast as he could. Another drag of his hips outward, sliding against the textured flesh that felt so good surrounding him, and it took all his control not to lose his rhythm.

Dripping trails of bright blue drew his attention. Stark against the white flesh, they mesmerized him, and when that particular scent finally hit him, he lost himself again. His pace sped up, hips thrusting forward faster and faster without losing any of the ferocity.

Soon he was moving as fast and as hard as he could. The sights, the scents, the sounds, everything happening only added to the overwhelming mix of pleasure and desire he was feeling. It was then that the pressure started to build again. His claws grasped the female even harder; this time, he would not let it pull away.

Another thrust and another, his respiration was coming out in quick pants. He was so close.

The female’s sheath tightened around him. The flesh released and tightened again, a new rhythmic clenching starting up.

Lykrosis didn’t know if the movement was intentional or reactionary, but, _by the servitors,_ it was more than he could take. He thrust as deep inside the female as he could go and held himself there as he finally finished. His eyes slammed shut of their own accord, pleasured groans and trills escaping him. His erection throbbed spilling warm liquid into the creature. He could feel it filling up the female’s sheath, which only added another layer of stimulation to his already hyper-sensitive shaft.

The pleasure swept through his entire body and he reveled in it. Every clench from the female, every pulse from his own erection, all of it was too much.

Too much, and yet perfect…

He slowly came down from that coveted height, the last few throbs tapering off, and the feeling of satiation took over.

The nuur’az words had been truth; that climax had been more intense and more pleasing than all those that had preceded it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback… please? 
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur'az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> Sdee'al-Hive Knight  
> Klk- Fallen curse word closest to 'shit'  
> Ntr-measure of length. It is equivalent to about a meter.


	28. Gratitude and an Offer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies! Did you miss me? Well I missed you guys and this story. A two-month break isn’t quite my longest, but it sure felt that way. I had the block; I didn’t even want to open my computer let alone stare at a blank screen. Frustrating, but it happens. Anyways, here is a new chapter for you. I wrote it yesterday in three hours and edited it today. I should probably withhold it and make it so much better, but I just want to get it out and get through this story. Enjoy!

The female’s weight became heavier in his grasp; it must not have been holding itself up anymore.

Lykrosis pulled out and lowered the female to the ground handling it more gently than he ever thought he would. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt… something and didn’t want to just let it collapse against the ground like he had seen happen multiple times with the sdee’al.

After he released it, it simply lie there for a few moments respiring heavily and then as was customary after it had recuperated, the female returned to the pools to clean itself.

He had taken that as his queue, quickly refastening his bio-suit and reattaching his cloak. He intended to clean himself in private after returning to the home caves.

Lykrosis should have left, but he hesitated. Lingering was not something he was accustomed to, leisure even less so, but… he wanted to remain, at least a few more moments. It was unusual but he was content to simply watch the creature.

It was smiling again; it had been since they had finished, and didn’t seem inclined to stop in the near moments. It did not hurry nor were its movements purposeful and efficient. It was calm and sluggish, seemingly enjoying the feel of the water. A few times it looked back at him and its contentedness increased, the smiling taking over its features.

The reaction made Lykrosis feel strange and he found this behavior puzzling. In fact, much of what the nuur’az had said of the past few moments was returning to him and it was all puzzling. He wanted to consider it all now that he was no longer distracted, but a distinct whoosh of air denoted the nuur’az return.

It had floated back down the path from wherever it had gone, pausing to hover between them as it said, “So… how was it?”

Lykrosis was trying to figure out what to say when an abrupt noise from the female cut off his thoughts.

“You laughed!” the nuur’az shouted as it zipped toward the creature as though it had not just addressed him. “But you’ve never laughed out loud before! How…” It didn’t even finish the sentence, choosing instead to scan the female with beams of nuur as it did when sampling other materials. “I… I don’t believe it. There is a change in brain wave activity. I have no idea what it means, but I can see it!”

The female was still smiling and for the first time, it’s mouth parted and Lykrosis caught a glimpse of what he thought were teeth. The reaction put him on edge; smiling indicated contentedness, he knew, but baring one’s teeth meant aggression in every other creature he had come upon.

This whole scene was confusing. Was the female content or enraged? Why was the nuur’az behaving so erratically?

His relaxed state further declined when the nuur’az in question came rushing at him. It stopped just short, enough so that he did not feel the need to react yet, but he did not like this.

“You! You did this. You made her laugh,” and as he watched, it gently dropped downward and bumped itself against his right, upper claw.

Lykrosis was so taken aback, he still didn’t know how to react.

“Thank you,” it finally said as it returned to eye level.

It expressed gratitude? _Why?_ Lykrosis was truly confused now. He had done nothing other than mate the creature as he had before and he even knew that he had not made it finish. “I do not understand,” he finally admitted, “The female did not finish.”

The nuur’az laughed. “Of course, you would focus on that. That is not important right now at all. The female told me before that being near you, touching you made her feel better. I didn’t believe her, but it’s true; I just saw it in my scans, the injury to her mind has changed minutely. You are helping her.”

A flurry of movement distracted him. The female had teleported out of the pool directly in front of him and promptly covered itself with its garments. The movements were hurried; something he had never witnessed from the creature before.

“Uh, the female says we must go, she must do something.” The nuur’az switched to their own language for a moment, before speaking to him again, “She also wishes to express gratitude. We offer you a favor; if you ever want or need anything from us, you may ask and we will do our best to give it to you.”

And with that said, they disappeared.

* * *

“Are you going to tell me what just happened?” asked the ghost after they had returned to the ship. It had watched the female teleport herself onto the sofa with enough force that it actually creaked as it smashed into the bulkhead.

No answer.

It had been so thrilled with the female’s change and now it was just worried again. The way she had communicated with it in the hollow had a dire sense of urgency. It was not normal for her to rush in such a manner or feel so disconcerted. Something was definitely going on, although, it didn’t seem like it was going to get an answer.

The ghost prompted her again, but she gave no response so it gave up and made its way to the console. There was always more work to do.

Not ten minutes later, it heard its name urgently yelled through its mind.

_Ghost! Ghost come._

 “What?!” it said rushing over. It almost started scanning her worried the thing eating away at her had somehow worsened.

_Record._

“Record what?”

 _Record._ The female closed her eyes and appeared to be concentrating very hard on something.

It was thoroughly confused at this point, but waited at the ready nonetheless. After a few more minutes, it was finally flooded with information. The words came pouring out of her without pause like she was rushing to get them all out and it did its best to capture everything.

_Ghost. It, no, he. Name. All name. Guardian. Me, we. Darkness. Stasis. Venus. Pain. Taken, corrupted. Punished. Orb. Fallen. Where. Time. There. Here. Stealth. Guardians. Earth. Event, past. Pain. Darkness. Want. Name. Me. Surrender. Loop. Frigate._

And if that jumble of incoherent thoughts and words wasn’t enough, next it got intense emotions. She cycled through almost everything it could imagine: happiness, anger, confusion, mirth, misery, solemnity, pain, and the list kept going. The initial shifts were jarring, each one felt honestly as if they were the ghost’s own feelings, before they finally became muddled together and abruptly cut out.

The female’s eyes slowly opened, the feeling of urgency gone.

“Well that was certainly interesting, but why did you want me to record all of that? I couldn’t make sense of any of it.”

…

And there it was, the blank stare.

The ghost knew that look, she had forgotten everything. “You don’t remember, do you? You listed off a bunch of words and sent emotions to me; you wanted me to record it all.” The ghost played it back for her and although there was interest, there was no recognition. “I think it’s important. I think you asked me to record it because you want to remember it, to be reminded of it.”

Its words sparked even more interest within her and it felt a request to repeat the list again. “I’m going to put them up on this monitor so you can review them whenever you want.”

The female lifted herself off the couch and surveyed the monitor it had transferred the words to. The ghost wasn’t sure if it was the list or its own words that caught her attention, but she moved close to the monitor and although there wasn’t any indication, it knew she was studying them.

It checked on her periodically, brought her her drink, and eventually something to sit on, but her concentration never wavered. It seemed they were going to be in for a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it wasn’t too bad and I’m seriously trying to get another chapter out by tomorrow, no lie. I’m back in the game and trying to get at least a few more chapters out before Destiny 2. Woo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so ready. Alas, that also means more lore, which I absolutely love and hate at the same time since it is just more opportunity for Bungie to inadvertently crush this story’s realism. I hate being AU or OOC unintentionally.


	29. We Must Speak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies! Another chapter is here and it didn’t take that long. Too long, yes, but that long, thankfully no. So, this chapter is a bit longer than the last one and has some good stuff going on. We’ll have to wait and see what comes of all of it. Enjoy and let me know what you guys think!

_Favor._ The entire way back to the home caves, Lykrosis had been thinking through everything that had happened in the hollow, but he kept circling back to this word. He understood its meaning and there were a variety of significant implications associated with it; some, not things he desired.

Fallen did not offer favors lightly nor frequently; mutually beneficial agreements were common as was asserting rank and dominance to get what you wanted, but not favors. They were not given unless one owed another much. The question was, what did it mean to the pair? Despite everything that had happened between them, Lykrosis did not think the pair owed him for anything he had done and that was the problem. Was he doing more than he realized? The nuur’az had said that he was “helping” the female.

He didn’t like that; it seemed wrong somehow, as though he was aiding the enemy.

_Are they the enemy?_

He paused at his own thought. The distinction had always been easy, if one was not Fallen, they were an enemy. Why was he wavering now? He remembered the nuur’az touching him, slight and quick, but innocuous. It had touched him like it did the female. It seemed… affable.

Lykrosis rid himself of that line of thinking with a quick shake of his helm. Now he was angry, with himself. He was letting his guard down, which was exactly what he said he would not do when he started interacting with the pair. It was impertinent, bordered on treasonous, and certainly dangerous.

However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that they truly didn’t mean him or his crew any harm, and that brought him back to this favor. What were they actually offering and how much would they truly give?

He needed nothing from them, but there were things he wanted to understand, things that had been left unanswered in all their conversing. Or perhaps he should wait on this favor until something more apparent crossed his mind. It was intriguing if nothing else. There were—

“Lykrosis.”

He looked up to find Kreesis standing against the left wall immediately inside the entrance to the home caves.

Lykrosis had been moving mostly on instinct, not paying much attention to his surroundings other than to make sure there were no others in the area when he had passed through the false wall. He was caught off guard by the immediate address and realized that the reaver must have been waiting for him. “Kreesis,” he said issuing a greeting. They often spoke of the crew’s happenings so it wasn’t entirely unexpected that the reaver was there; that was until he noticed the other did not return his greeting.

“Come. We must speak,” he said instead and began moving farther into the cave system.

This put Lykrosis on edge. Kreesis was unusually brusque at the moment and he also had not had a chance to bathe, a foolish mistake. The reaver might catch the creature’s scent on him and that would lead to questions he did not have answers for.

Lykrosis followed behind keeping a larger than normal distance between himself and the other vandal in an effort for the scent to go unnoticed. The reaver did not speak during their walk and Lykrosis could glean nothing from his lower claws; they were being held in check, not a single movement giving away his emotional state.

When they passed by his own quarters, he knew they were most likely going to Kreesis’ and that meant this conversation was not to be interrupted. Unlike him, reavers did not share quarters nor did other Fallen have the access codes to enter.

Once inside, Kreesis settled himself next to a console and gestured for Lykrosis to do the same. This behavior was strange, not following previous patterns when they interacted, and his unease increased the longer the reaver remained silent. He just stared. Lykrosis almost would have said he was being evaluated, but for what, he did not know.

 “You intend to leave?” the reaver finally said in a voice that expressed displeasure, but also something else that was harder to identify.

“Leave?” Lykrosis repeated confused by what the reaver was asking.

“The crew.”

“No,” he growled wondering where this idea had come from.

“You intend to leave the house?”

“One does not leave their house.”

“There are rumors. New house, this planet’s only satellite. Exiles, traitors.”

Lykrosis warbled surprise and then a trickle of anger crept in. “You question my loyalty?”

The reaver did not reply for many moments, but he finally growled out, “No.” He stood up and turned away, his lower claws flicking rapidly in what was undoubtedly frustration. Kreesis paced the length of the room, which was uncharacteristic of him. “This… confuses,” the other vandal said finally turning back to face him.

Lykrosis himself was confused again. There seemed to be something left unspoken between them and he prompted the reaver for it, “Kreesis, what is occurring?”

“Captain Tyriks ordered you monitored. No reason given. Termination orders were issued, to me, if suspicion is found.”

Lykrosis warbled again, this time in outrage; termination orders were only given against traitorous Fallen.

“Settle. Found nothing. Nothing to report to the captain.”

The words were favorable at least and eased his apprehension; likely then his interactions with the pair had not been discovered. The situation was not favorable though. He had done something to cause suspicion in the captain and he wasn’t sure what it was.

“I know you to be loyal, to the crew, to me. Another must speak against you. There is still danger, we must identify this other.”

It was only then that Lykrosis realized he had unknowingly endangered Kreesis. The captain may not know yet the entirety of the situation, but the likelihood that he would find out was high. Lykrosis had been fooling himself to think otherwise. And when he was, some my question Kreesis effectiveness to not have discovered this, or worse, suggest he was complicit in it.

 _Perhaps…_ perhaps there was another way.

“Kreesis, you are correct; we must speak.”

* * *

The female had remained at the monitor the rest of the day and throughout the night, skipping her chance for sleep, which was rare for her except for when she was in one of her states. This was different though, she wasn’t unresponsive and lost in her own head, she still ate and blinked and moved, she was just… concentrating intensely on these words.

And this reaction thrilled the ghost. Given everything that had happened yesterday, this almost seemed like her brain was behaving differently, perhaps even healthier. Unfortunately, as much as it wanted to leave her be, it needed to interrupt her. Well, it didn’t **need** to, but if it was ever going to get these specific scans, now was the best time to try.

“Hey,” it said floating closer to her.

She didn’t respond.

“Hey,” it tried again, moving in front of the screen to gain her attention. That worked, although it was hit with a flash of irritation, probably due to its interruption. “As much as I love seeing you so interested in something other than sex, can you take a break for a moment? I need to ask you something.”

There was immediate reluctance toward its suggestion but a feeling of exhaustion abruptly registered as well. Without the extreme focus on the words to distract her from it, she registered the many hours she had spent sitting there all at once. Her whole body went limp, sagging into the chair as though the atmosphere was suddenly bearing down on her harder than before. She needed a break.

The ghost teleported a goblet of fresh nutritional supplement onto the console beside her.

She reached for it instinctually although her arm moved sluggishly. Downing half the liquid in one swig, the female pulled her legs up onto the chair and lent more heavily into it, finally relaxing.   

“Feel better?”

_Yes._

“Good. I need to take some scans.”

It felt a little playfulness from her with the thought, _more._

The ghost laughed. “Yes, more scans. These will be a little different though. I need you to try to speak to me.”

_Speak?_

“Not aloud. I mean, I would love it if you spoke aloud, but I know you can’t. What I’m hoping is that you can use your voice in my mind, speak to me with real words instead of sending the words as text or as feelings and images.” It got an initial feeling of confusion and then curiosity. “I’m working on something. You don’t have to worry about it and I’m not going to tell you because I don’t want to get your hopes up that it will work because it probably won’t. This is going to be a really complex mechanism. If I make any progress though, I’ll let you know, but to do that, I really need those scans. Can you please try?”

_Yes._

With that affirmation, the ghost waited and the female presumably tried. Minutes passed, then an hour, and finally another, but nothing ever came of it. She sat there, mind and body quiet, but no words ever whispered through its mind and there was no indication that there would be any time soon.

It was disappointed, but not deterred. Perhaps more interactions with the vandal would continue to show progress in her mental state and then it would ask her to try again. “That’s okay,” it finally said gaining her attention and letting her know she could stop. She sent it apologies, but it waved them away with its optimistic demeanor and words, “Don’t dwell on it. You’re already doing better and that’s more than I could ever have hoped for. You were right about the Fallen. Anyways, we can try again in a few days after you have seen him again. For now, let me just get some scans of you thinking at me like you normally do. Send me as much as you can.”

_Okay._

“Great.”

_Ghost?_

“Yes?” it said distractedly as it prepared to take deep scans of her brain waves when she started thinking.

_Thank you._

“For what?”

_Everything._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anybody want to guess what Lykrosis next move is? ;)
> 
> *Special AN* My fellow fireteamates and I decided to create our own clan on PS4 for D2, This is Fallen Territory, and we are recruiting! I know there are many clans out there, but i figured if you are reading and enjoying this story, you are probably someone I could enjoy conversing with. We want clan mates who not only enjoy playing all aspects of the game (story, patrol, strikes, raid, crucible, everything), but we want people who love the lore of Destiny as well. We want to hear others' headcanons and ideas about everything Bungie has given us. Anyways, if you are looking for a clan to join and this seems like your idea of a good time, let me know. You can contact me on here or on playstation network (adal44t_kb_o).
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur'az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.


	30. Something New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies! Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews as I appreciate everyone who takes the time to give me their thoughts. I don’t have much to say about this chapter; at this point we’re just moving right along, so hopefully you enjoy and I’ll have the next out soon.
> 
> Note-I apologize in advance if you find any weird formatting. I tried to make sure i fixed everything, but Ao3 Rich Text Editor is giving me issues today for whatever reason. I normally don't have any problems with it. If you do find something, feel free to point it out and i will fix it.

“You believe the nuur’az words,” the reaver finally asked after remaining silent for many, many moments.

Lykrosis had described, in detail, everything that had occurred between himself and the pair. It was a risk to divulge what sounded very much like treason, but he was loyal to Kreesis and had always felt the same from the reaver in return. At the very least, he believed the other vandal would allow him to explain and consider the situation before making another report to the captain. “I am skeptical, always. I have found no untruths yet.”

“It speaks so freely. Information could prove useful.”

“Information is useful. Last City, hu’ins. Weak creatures they are. Strategically viable target.”

“You forget, information is hierarchal. Much of this the captain may know.”

“I do not forget. The captain, yes. However, we know. We have advantage over others. Easier to increase rank, class.”

“This may be truth. No more or less, the information is intriguing, helpful.”

“Perhaps more. Perhaps some the captain does not know.”

“Perhaps.” The reaver repeated quietly as though he were not convinced. “This… mating perplexes. You enjoy it?”

“It is… pleasing. I am wary. However, touching the female…” and his words trailed off. Lykrosis wasn’t even sure how to describe the feeling or if he did, how Kreesis would interpret the words.

“Your pheromone output increases. The composite, unusual,” said Kreesis as he scented the air in Lykrosis direction.

“Mating pheromones, I surmise. The female releases them, the scent is beyond enticing.”

“Thinking of mating causes their release?”

“I had not noticed previously, yes.”

“Advise not considering mating around others.”

“Sound advice.”

Kreesis didn’t speak for many moments after that. The rapid twitching of his lower claws indicated he was thoroughly considering everything they had discussed. He looked Lykrosis over once and awhile and scented him a few times while he thought. “What you desire, Lykrosis? From this situation, from me.”

“The pair, information prove useful, valuable. I wish to discover much, report all to the captain. Earn respect and status, for us. Honor for the crew.”

“You believe them that valuable.”

“I need more moments, more evidence. Prove useful or not, hostile or not. This I seek from you.” When Kreesis did not reply for many more moments again, Lykrosis finally admitted, “It offered a favor.” He had been withholding this fact because there were too many implications of a ‘favor’, but he knew it would also make Kreesis curious.

“Favor? What you gave them to offer this?”

“I know not. I am wary. However, I admit curiosity.”

“It is unexpected.”

“Agreed. I know not what to request.”

“You over think, always. You attempted to follow their movements, yes? Request to view their lair.” Kreesis seemed to think better of his words. “I speak as though you will return. You place me unfairly, Lykrosis. Loyalty to you or the crew.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps it is the same. Words are not enough,” he finally said getting to the point he had always intended to make, “You will accompany me, after this next patrol. You will interact with the pair. Decide for yourself.”

Kreesis seemed surprised at the suggestion and then thoughtful. The pacing started up, his lower claws twitching again. This lasted for many moments, each one all the more important.

Lykrosis needed the reaver to understand his logic, to agree with him about the pair’s potential usefulness. Not only did he see the chance to redeem his own shame and bring honor to his crew, but his existence depended on this now.

The reaver growled loudly. “I will accompany you,” he said his lower claws flicking in acceptance even though his voice suggested resignation.

“This is advantageous.”

“For you. Your curiosity will destroy us all,” Kreesis stated sarcastically.

Lykrosis’ previous apprehension had finally eased with the reaver’s agreement and he allowed himself to laugh.

* * *

The vandal was not yet at the hollow when they arrived. The female lounged on top of a boulder while they waited, her mind wonderfully active. The ghost was getting all kinds of emotions and sensations from her as she took in her surroundings. The heat from the sun, the chill of the frost beneath her, the heaviness of the air from the top most layer of the pools evaporating. Insects and small animals moving about, their mini-scale worlds full of life. All of it was a torrent of thoughts as they entered her mind and fascinated her as though she was experiencing it all for the first time.

And perhaps she was.

Her mind had always functioned and she was extremely intelligent. The female knew so much about the universe that she honestly shouldn’t know or understand, but somehow, she did. Often, she would make connections seemingly out of nowhere and yet they always turned out to be correct.

The problem was, she forgot so much. It was as though her mind was dampened or slowly being sucked away. Experiences, thoughts, feelings. They came and went, sometimes with perfect clarity and other times as a blur, barely registering.

The memories from before they had met on Mars were the most affected. Everything that made her whoever she had been before was locked away, like this thing inside was trying to erase her completely. She couldn’t remember any of it as far as it knew. The new experiences were better retained, but she still went through periods where it seemed like portions of those were taken from her as well.

But now, right now, the female was experiencing everything so clearly and it was making her so happy. That particular emotion was a strong chord running beneath every other as she gazed at the landscape. There was recognition as well; she could tell the difference, the change in her own mental state as she experienced things anew.

The arrival of the vandal brought an instant shift in her focus. She was happy to see him and excited, very excited. The flickers of thought were loud to it as she scrutinized him. His form, his armor, and the bright crimson of his house. She liked it all, was attracted to it all.

The female dismounted the boulder wanting to be closer, to capture his scen—

The ghost felt her thoughts abruptly cut off and she stopped moving. Something had caught her attention, but now she was blank. It didn’t know what was going on, but something was wrong. Before it could prompt her for the cause, another vandal a little behind and to the left of the first decloaked.

The ghost backed away from the Fallen; it didn’t like this. Why was this vandal here? What did they want? Was the whole crew coming next? This situation had turned from familiar to dangerous in a matter of seconds. The ghost silently urged the female to retreat, **now**.

It felt her hesitancy and curiosity.

“Now is not the time to be curious,” it said quietly.

She ignored it as her curiosity doubled. She was scrutinizing them both now and the ghost finally understood why: the female couldn’t tell them apart. Without the scent, which was currently being blown away from them, she could only observe them visually and they were identical. Their helms, armor, cloaks, weaponry, all the same. Their forms, the height, shoulder span, arm length, also all the same.

The ghost had never been this close to multiple fallen of the same class before, let alone those that weren’t moving about trying to kill it, but she was right. Except for slight variations in damage and wear to their armor, they were exactly the same.

The only reason the ghost could tell the difference was because the vandal in front was much calmer than the second. While he still held his shock blades, they were lightly grasped and lowered whereas the other was in a defensive stance ready for an attack at any moment. Vandal number one was the one they had been interacting with this whole time.

 _Strange though_ , the ghost thought to itself. Were all vandals identical? That seemed highly improbable. Perhaps these two were related?

It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered at this point was what they wanted.

“This is unfavorable. Location is exposed,” said the second vandal.

“Unfavorable is a word for it,” said the ghost moving closer to the female to which it received an aggressive warble. “What is going on here? Why have you brought another vandal?”

“Unimportant. We shall converse, yes? Then we will mate.”

 _Wait... we?_ Did the vandal think... “Hey! Is that what you brought him here for? The female is not some toy you can just pass around to all your friends.” The ghost had moved closer in its anger, too familiar with the vandal to remember and forgetting to exercise caution. It recognized that error when vandal number two tensed, its shock blades drawing up higher.

“What mean these ‘toy’, ‘friends’?” the first said as though nothing else was happening.

The ghost was just about done with this situation. It didn’t even want to answer this presumptuous vandal. How could he think—

_Ghost._

“What?”

_Ask._

“Ask what?”

_Important. Why._

“The female says it is important and she wants to know why you brought the other vandal.”

“The reaver will observe, conversation, mating.”

“Observe. So you do not expect her to mate the other vandal?”

The vandal did not say anything for a moment making the ghost wonder what was up. “This was not considered,” he finally said much to the ghost’s relief. Unfortunately, he didn’t stop there. “The idea has merit,” he continued turning toward the other. More quietly he added, “Perhaps you should mate the female.”

“What?! No,” shouted the ghost a little too forcefully as it realized it had made the situation worse.

Both vandals returned their gaze to the ghost, probably surprised by its outburst. The first asked, “The female declines mating the reaver?”

The ghost went to say of course she did and then stopped itself. It certainly hoped she would decline, but now **it** was the one being presumptuous.

The female had been relatively silent and blank since the second vandal had decloaked compared to her excited stated from before. It hadn’t been paying as much attention to her reaction to this situation as it probably should have, but it did float up to her eye level and ask, “Do you want to mate with the other vandal as well?”

Her answer was difficult to interpret; it felt undecided, almost confused. She wasn’t outright against the idea, but she also didn’t affirm it either.

“As glad as I am that you are not rearing to do another one, I think they are looking for a Yes or No.”

_He wants?_

“She wants to know if the reaver wants to mate.”

“I will observe first.”

“You will desire it,” the first said.

The second vandal made a noise that might have been disbelieving, but the ghost couldn’t be certain. “Touching the… female, the idea, does not enthuse.”

“So that’s a no. Good. Now that that is settled, we also want an agreement. This is an unexpected change and we are outnumbered, unfavorably. If we do not turn hostile, then neither of you turn hostile.”

“Agreed,” said the first almost immediately. The second vandal took a bit longer, and first asked if they could be trusted to honor this, but he eventually agreed as well.

“Okay, so you said you want to converse first then?”

“We will converse after. I desire to mate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Anybody have any opinions on Kreesis yet? 
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur'az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.


	31. Foreplay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies! I’m back and with smexy times! Lol. Well you probably surmised that from how the last chapter ended, but if anyone was doubtful, this chapter is here to give everybody that Fallen x Femme smut fix you have all been craving. Enjoy it, especially since it will be the last one, at least for a little while. Following this, it will be mostly plot for the foreseeable future.
> 
> Chapter Warning/Tags/Kinks-Interspecies sex, consensual sex, rough sex, heterosexual sex

Lykrosis should have agreed with the nuur’az in that they would converse first, but he was admittedly eager to mate again. Since their last encounter he could not stop himself from thinking about the female and her warm, supple flesh. His attention had been focused elsewhere: speaking with Kreesis, cleaning his weapons and armor, repairing a few damaged shanks, but inevitably it always wandered back to mating.

He knew he should be concentrating on convincing Kreesis of the pair’s usefulness and intentions; however, right now, being in the creature’s presence, scenting it, he just wanted to touch it. The knowledge that only its thin fabrics stood between him and its soft body had his claws flexing in anticipation already. He wanted to run them along its flesh, scratching and grasping, to feel its warm body pressed up against his own. He wanted to hear its screams and moans as he pleasured it and took his own pleasure in turn.

This was the first time since coming to the hollow that the thought of touching the female did not fill him with reticence. Perhaps the pleasure of their last encounter was affecting his judgement or maybe even Kreesis’ presence here had him feeling less threatened and more secure. He didn’t know, but the pull was strong. Belatedly, he found himself already stripping the gauntlets from his lower claws on instinct in preparation to touch her.

“What is this, the female is doing?” Kreesis asked pulling him out of his own distracted thoughts.

The female had not moved since the reaver had decloaked, the only noticeable change being in her expression, which must be what he was referring to. “Smiling, I explained previously. The female is made content by something.”

“She is pleased with your words,” interjected the nuur’az in explanation. “The female would prefer to mate first and speak after as well. She says she is eager to feel your claws wrapped around her.”

Lykrosis couldn’t help himself, a low growl erupted from him and there was a hard clenching in his groin; the female’s words emulated exactly what he wanted to do in that moment. He took a reactionary step forward but paused at the loud warble of surprise from Kreesis.

“The female speaks this? Disregards its safety. Claws could shred its flimsy armor, without difficulty.”

Lykrosis wasn’t sure how to respond, but the nuur’az replied first anyways.

“Oh, come on, don’t make me say that,” it said in their own language. After a moment of silence, it made another noise, the one that sounded like heat expulsion, and continued in E’lik, “She was thinking more of your claws on her bare flesh, but she thinks she would rather like you tearing the clothes off her body first.”

Kreesis let out another surprised warble, but Lykrosis barely acknowledged it, his focus entirely on the female now. He wasn’t sure why exactly, but the idea of clawing at her, tearing this clothing apart to reveal her bare flesh was… pleasing. “The female, ready to mate?” he asked, not wanting to wait any more moments.

“Yes,” replied the little machine as the creature knelt. “I will provide direction.”

“Direction is not needed, Nuur’az,” said Lykrosis with a touch of irritation. Did it question his intelligence? He was not some lowly dreg to need instruction repeatedly for the same action. Besides, he had made the female cry out during their last encounter; that should have been proof enough that he understood how to mate.

“Pfft, yeah, because explaining sex to an alien is what I really want to be doing with my time.”

Was the little machine talking to itself again? Lykrosis wasn’t sure but it continued before he had enough moments to consider it.

“You may think that, but there is still much for you to learn about mating. The female wants me to explain some new things to you, particularly the concept of foreplay, and then I will be happy to stop talking and let you take it from there.”

“What means this, ‘fore’lay’?” he questioned as he approached the female with Kreesis following behind albeit at a respectable distance. Lykrosis didn’t doubt the reaver’s own reticence at this point, but he also didn’t doubt the affect the mating would have on him either. The scents and sounds were… intoxicating; they inspired a feeling too close to that of the hunt for them not to affect him.

“I’ll explain in a minute.” The nuur’az paused, most likely receiving a transmission from the female before stating, “She wants you to kneel behind her as close as possible if you are agreeable.”

Lykrosis moved to comply with only a fleeting sense of hesitation. They had an agreement and the position would put the female at a disadvantage should she be looking to attack despite it, particularly with Kreesis present.  Besides, of the positions they had mated in, he had favored taking her from behind. Not only did it put her beneath him, but taking her that way stirred something carnal within him, a basic need to dominate and control.

While he was settling himself behind her, the female removed her outer layer of this clothing until she was left only in the two under pieces. The upper piece, which he had previously seen only from the front, had clasps on the back that held it on. The lower piece was very thin and only covered the middle of her backside. Lykrosis couldn’t help scoffing as he always did whenever he thought of how impractical these fabrics all were.

“Okay, so how to explain this,” the nuur’az began. “Mating can entail a variety of things, but generally there are three main parts: ‘Foreplay’ is everything that happens before intercourse, which is when your waste organ is inside of the female—and that does not sound even remotely attractive. Do the Fallen have another term for the waste organ? I can’t keep calling it that.”

“No other name. It is a waste organ,” replied Lykrosis.

“Well, that’s… unfortunate. How about from now on we refer to it as a ‘dick’. That’s what we call it, much sexier.”

“Dick,” he said aloud, trying out the pronunciation. He liked this word; it was harsh and much easier to pronounce than many other words in the pair’s language.

“Exactly. Getting back to the point, the purpose of foreplay is to arouse and build anticipation.”

“What means this, ‘arouse’?”

“Arousal is the desire and excitement felt specifically in regard to mating. Arousal is accompanied by distinct physical changes; in the male, the dick becomes erect, and in the female, her body heats and becomes wet, which allows her to take the male inside without hurting her.”

Lykrosis considered this concept, arousal. The nuur’az explanation seemed logical and in addition to what it stated, this must also be what caused the production and release of pheromones. That was why the creature’s scent output increased when it desired mating. _Not just the creature,_ he thought remembering Kreesis’ previous comments on his own pheromone output; thinking of mating was causing arousal in his body as well. “How, fore’lay performed?”

“Well that’s up to the pair involved, but you can do anything really, anything that excites you both. Touching each other, rubbing sensitive areas, licking, kissing, biting, things like that.”

“Biting?” Lykrosis repeated. It was one of the only terms he understood, but more than that, it was the one that captured his interest the most.

“Uh, yes. Some individuals like to bite, and others like to be bitten, when it’s done correctly of course.”

“The female, desires biting?” he asked.

In the same moment Kreesis questioned, “How one bites incorrectly?” as though the idea was nonsensical.

“During mating, certain actions like biting and clawing, are performed, but without the intention to actually cause damage. You saw the female and sdee’al mating; she likes to be handled roughly and that includes biting and scratching, but with the knowledge that he wasn’t trying to hurt her. No real injuries occurred, only minor abrasions to her skin.”

This was truth; Lykrosis had noted himself the sdee’al uncharacteristically gentle ministrations the first time he had witnessed their mating. He understood now that the grappling had been the pair’s foreplay, which begged the question, what did she desire from him? Were they to grapple? Did the female desire biting from him?

A light brush against his exposed, lower claws caught his attention.

The female’s own claws gently grabbed his and drew them forward; the left she placed against her hip and the right to her front, pressing flat against her lower abdomen. Then she leaned backwards slowly, pressing her whole body along the front of his.

The female was touching him, her entire body was touching him. Lykrosis surprised himself when there was no thought to still or warn her off, only… that he liked having her there.

It was the heat, it was always the heat. Never had he touched so much of the female’s body all at once, and right now, it was… scorching. The heat radiated from her, bleeding through wherever they touched, and he was drawn to it, his cooler body reveling in the feel of the warmth spreading through him.

The female smiled at him and then gently pushed his claw lower until it rested against the edge of her fabric.

Lykrosis did not need further prompting to understand what she desired. His claw slid under the fabric, one digit moving between her folds, searching for the nub that controlled her pleasure. He applied just enough pressure as he had learned previously and flicked back and forth rapidly.

Just as before, the reaction was not instant. Many moments passed before the female showed that his rubbing was having any effect, a quiet moan finally escaping her.

“Now find something to do with your upper claws too,” said the nuur’az, drawing his attention back to the entire situation instead of solely on the creature. “You’ve got four, use them.”

Lykrosis wasn’t sure what to do with them since he already touched the female between her legs, but he moved them to her waist nonetheless. More heat would only be pleasing.

However, the female had other ideas. Her claws once again grabbed his and slid them upward until they encircled the mounds on her chest.

He remembered then that the nuur’az had stated the female was sensitive here as well. Again, he wasn’t sure what to do, but decided to start with grasping them as he had witnessed the sdee’al do. The flesh was supple, yet firm and it issued greater resistance the more pressure he applied. Lykrosis let up and rubbed his digits along the centered areas where she was supposedly most sensitive. After only a few passes, he felt the flesh perk up against his covered digits.

The female’s head fell backwards against his shoulder, eyes closed, and another quiet moan escaped her. The reaction was telling, she definitely liked that.

Lykrosis experimented with the female’s sensitive zones. He alternated between squeezing the mounds of flesh and rubbing the centered areas while his lower claw flicked relentlessly against the nub. His remaining claw stayed at her hip, scratching at the delicate flesh but not digging in yet.

The female shifted again, this time her face turning toward him, and her eyes opened slowly. They stayed lidded as though it were an effort to open them and he recognized this expression; the female was pleasured but not overwhelmed.   

Lykrosis lifted his gaze from looking down her body to her face. He had been able to see her well enough from the periphery, but for whatever reason, he desired to watch her more closely while he pleasured her. Their eyes met and in that moment, he felt so drawn to her. The scent of her tendrils, floral and sweet, mixed with that of her skin and sharp pheromones to entrance him further. His gaze roamed her features, memorizing every flutter and twitch, and all the while he continued his ministrations, waiting for a signal that she her climax was approaching.

It came as it had previously, or so he assumed, when her hips started to move. They pressed downward, alternately applying more pressure and then backing off. Her entire body flexed with the movement, tensing up as she pressed downward and relaxing as she let up. Her little moans were coming more frequently, and her claws clenched at the open air.

Lykrosis saw the most curious thing then, something, and he truly had no idea what, flashed out of her mouth so quickly he almost missed it. It was followed immediately by her upper teeth, which overlapped the lower part of her mouth and pressed downward.

What was the female doing? Was she cannibalizing herself?

The teeth were gone almost as quickly as they had come and seemingly without damaging her in any way.

He didn’t have any moments to consider this strange action because the female’s body tensed and her respiration momentarily stuttered. Her right claw shot to the forearm of the claw he had between her legs and the other behind his helm. He should have been worried by the placement, but she only pulled him closer as her release finally took her.

Head slamming backwards, she shivered and moaned. Claws dug into him, although not enough to pierce, and the female pressed her whole body harder against him, hips still moving in that same rhythm. Her backside, which had barely been touching him before, pressed firmly into his groin.

The movement of her hips and added pressure against his waste organ was enough to make him groan even through his bio-suit. He pulled her in against him even harder desiring to feel more. The movement brought her exposed neck closer to his ether mask and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight.

He wanted to bite her. He wanted to sink his teeth into that taut flesh, to taste the lifeblood that taunted him just beneath the surface.

A moment more and he might have, but the female moved again. Her head shifted, and she ended with her face just barely pressed against his own, obscuring his previous view of her glistening flesh.

As her release tapered off, she whimpered, body and claws becoming listless. She tried to retreat backwards, probably trying to escape the sensitivity the nuur’az had mentioned before, but their position had her trapped.

Lykrosis let up, pulling out from between her legs, but the knowledge that he had her trapped there… incited a new feeling. It was like a combination of his hunting instincts and this arousal were warring within him and riling him up in a way he had never felt.

The female was stirring, and he was trying to give her moments to recover, but he wanted her **now.** He undid the panels of his bio-suit while simultaneously encouraging her to bend over with claws at her waist and shoulder. She moved willingly and when she was in position he pressed himself up against her wet opening. She felt so hot already, the anticipation was almost unbearable.

“It submits to you, without fighting,” Kreesis said jolting him.

Lykrosis had honestly forgot he was there, his mind focused only on mating the female. That fact disturbed him enough to clear some of the haze and his awareness flooded back.

As much as he enjoyed mating the female, he should not be allowing that desire to affect him so readily. He should have been interacting with Kreesis more, ensuring that the reaver would understand his reasonings when their encounter with the pair was over.

He took in Kreesis’ position, noting that he had moved closer to the scene, although not within reach of the female. He chittered almost imperceptibly, which along with his flexing claws, denoted his excitement. The reaver was audibly scenting the air and Lykrosis was well aware of the pervasiveness of the female’s pheromones after she climaxed. They saturated the receptors and left one with difficulty trying to focus on anything else.

The mating was affecting Kreesis just as he knew it would.

Lykrosis intended to respond to his statement, but the female chose that moment to fully recover. She looked at him over her shoulder and then, eyes still on his, lowered her upper body to the ground, submitting even further.

Lykrosis and Kreesis both growled loudly in response.

Did the female understand what she had just done?

Lykrosis was not certain, but he also could not care less in that moment. All his claws found purchase on her lithe form, holding her in place, while he buried himself inside her with one hard thrust.

Her face contorted in pleasure as she cried out exactly how he desired, and by the servitors, did she feel so good.

He didn’t start slow, he couldn’t have even if he wanted to, not with this overwhelming need riding him. Instead he held her still and rammed into her heated body with haste and fervor, the feeling absolute bliss. The female was so tight and wet around him, the inner flesh silky and strangely textured as it rubbed against the entirety of his length.

The more moments he moved, the slicker and hotter she became. Her body loosened up minutely allowing him to move more freely, which he took advantage of. His movements sped up, hips pistoning forward and back in a rhythmic slap of armor to flesh. He increased his ferocity as well, no longer holding her still, but yanking the female back against him with each thrust.

His trills of pleasure were almost quiet compared to the female’s shouted bliss. She moaned continuously and every few moments she would cry out, eyes flashing and claws scrabbling at the dry soil below.

Lykrosis’ pride flared with his arousal; he was causing the female to experience such pleasure and in turn she boasted his prowess with each noise that was torn from her throat. Again and again he moved inside of her, each pass adding to his overwhelming pleasure.

He did not desire the mating to end too quickly, but he recognized the growing pressure in his groin for what it was.

As always, the female was aware of his approaching climax as well. She started to pull against his might, forcing him to grasp her tighter in his efforts not to lose that perfect rhythm. It seemed the female was not ready for it to be over either.

Lykrosis willed his hips to slow although it did nothing to stop the build of his climax. If he could not last more moments, then perhaps he could increase the female’s pleasure while it lasted.

This time, he would make her finish.

Lykrosis yanked the female back upright. The new position slowed his thrusts even more and lessened their force, which was an unintended but welcome consequence. His lower claws remained on her hips, but the others he used to search out her sensitive areas. If the female enjoyed her breasts and the nub being rubbed before, then logically it followed she would enjoy it during their actual mating as well.

It didn’t take many moments for him to understand he had made the right choice. The female’s cries came more frequently, and her own claws moved to cover his, pressing them harder into her flesh. She writhed against him and her hips started their own thrusting just as they always did when she was close.

Lykrosis had a moment of triumph before a growl was unexpectedly torn from him. “Klk,” he said aloud unable to contain himself. Not only was the female’s scent surrounding him again now that she was so close, but the rhythmic clenching of her sheath had started up as it had the last time they mated. As before, he did not know if the female controlled this action or not, but it was more than he could take.

Two more thrusts and he reached his peak. The pressure that had been building since the start was finally released and a torrent of pleasure streaked through him. His arms clamped down around the female, crushing her against him as he trilled his ecstasy into the air.

His waste organ throbbed, spilling warm fluid into the female even as he continued his frenzied thrusting. The liquid filled her up, surrounding him, and it added another layer of stimulation to his overloaded body.

He started to come down, his trills quieting with the ebbing of the pleasure, but in that same moment, the female finally finished.

Lykrosis could never have imagined what her pleasure would feel like around him. The entire sheath rippled, crushing down tighter and hotter than he had ever felt. Her body arched against him, shivering and writhing, while she screamed wordlessly.

The knowledge that he had finally made the female scream for him and the rippling against his overly sensitive shaft were too much. He groaned helplessly at the renewed pleasure desiring it to never end and be over in the same moment.

However, nothing about it was quick. While the female’s screams died away, still she whimpered and spasmed both inside and out. It was not difficult to understand why she had desired him not to finish too quickly; her climax was more intense even than his own.

When it was finally over, his respiration was still heavy, but the feeling of satiation and contentment settled in.

The female mirrored him; her respiration just as labored and expression a broad smile. She had grown heavy in his grasp as she was prone to do after mating.

Lykrosis held her for a few more moments before pulling out and lowering her to the ground. He knew she would be content to lie there while she recovered from her exertions and he needed to speak with Kreesis anyways. Even though he had explained everything about mating beforehand, undoubtedly, the reaver would have questions.

After closing his bio-suit with the thought that he required a thorough washing, he approached Kreesis.

The reaver’s gaze was still on the creature’s prone form and within a ntr, Lykrosis scented both hunting pheromones and those of arousal. Of this, he was not surprised. He recalled the first mating he had witnessed and the desired mixed with curiosity he had felt that had led him not to destroy the creature. While a bit more reserved than him, Kreesis often thought and reacted similarly, which he was counting on in this instance.

“There is confliction,” said the reaver, obviously not sure what to think of the pair and mating.

“This is expected.”

“Nuur’az left.” There was a slight chitter of curiosity with the words as he finally drew his eyes away from the creature.

“Always it leaves during mating. I know not why. It will return quickly.”

“We must speak.”

“What of the favor?”

“No. We must speak first.”

As he had stated, the nuur’az returned quickly, floating down the path towards them. “I would ask how it went, but the female has been screaming words of encouragement in my mind for the past ten minutes, so I already have a pretty good idea.” It flew past them and scanned the female’s now sitting form with nuur, which Lykrosis had seen it do before, but he knew not for what exact purpose. The process was quick although the little machine lingered on her head for many more moments than elsewhere. “The female is tired and requires nourishment, so we will not be able to remain for long. What did you wish to discuss?”

“Nothing in this moment. We must leave.”

“Okay, tomorrow then?”

“This means following next patrol, yes?”

“Yes.”

Lykrosis looked to Kreesis. He knew the reaver was conflicted, but they should provide an answer and whether they returned or not was up to him.

After many moments of waiting, the reaver gave him the response he needed to see, although the reluctance was obvious. “We will return.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So…? Did you like it? I liked it, no, actually I loved it! This is the first time where I really felt like I got to show their budding relationship, not just smut. It wasn’t exactly romantic, but still there is a different feeling here than there was in previous scenes. I hope you guys felt the same.   
> Along those lines, this chapter is like the moment of accomplishment of this whole first half’s purpose in this story, which is to plausibly insert our non-guardian into the Fallen’s world. It will keep building from here, but I think it is realistic now as we move forward why some (keyword some) of the Fallen will accept her. 
> 
> Fallen Language  
> Listed in order of appearance:  
> Nuur'az-literally means tool of light. This is what Fallen call ghosts.  
> Sdee'al-Hive Knight  
> Klk- Fallen curse word closest to 'shit'  
> Ntr-measure of length. It is equivalent to about a meter.  
> Nuur-guardian light


End file.
